Measures of Acceptability
by Tonifranz
Summary: Flaky and Flippy are together. But what would Flaky do to keep Flippy hers? The answer? Anything. Even come to terms with Evil Flippy. Flippy/Flaky
1. Surprising Actions

I decided to do a Flippy/ Flaky fic. However, this fic will focus more on the interactions of Evil Flippy and Flaky, as I believe that normal Flippy and Flaky could easily get along.

This fic starts on the assumption that Flippy and Flaky are together for a while.

The thoughts of Evil communicating with normal Flippy would be in italic. The dialogue of Evil Flippy while out, will be in normal quotes.

Summary: Flaky and Flippy are together. But what would Flaky do to keep Flippy hers? The answer? Anything. Even come to terms with Evil. Flippy/Flaky

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter 1**

**Surprising Actions**

Flippy looked at the mirror as he readied for his double date. He ditched his normal wear for a suit. He looked pleased with himself as he adjusted his red tie. He was not used to going hatless, so he wore a fedora, just like Shifty, instead of his beret.

Since his mental battle with his evil doppelganger, he was able to gain more control over his flip-outs. It still occurred, but not as frequently as before. But it was unpredictable. While no longer triggered by ordinary things like popping balloons, the sight of death and blood would certainly trigger it, unless stopped. And the daily occurrence of bloody death in the cursed town meant that he flipped more than he'd like to. And Evil Flippy still haunts his dreams. And if Evil Flippy kills good Flippy in his dreams, he'd wake up as Evil.

Normally, Flippy would spend nights like these comfortable in his home reading. Things military, despite his post traumatic stress disorder, still fascinates him, as evidenced by the military memorabilia that decorates his home. He is something of an amateur military historian, and he could spend weeks at time analyzing historical battles. These things would not trigger his evil side, as he can resist Evil better while reading about death and destruction than actually witnessing it. Only when surprised by unexpected things would he automatically flip.

The double date had been instigated by Cuddles. The yellow rabbit practically insisted had he and Flaky come along. He was reluctant, and only promised to go if Flaky agreed. Flippy had no intention of asking Flaky for that night because he wanted to simply bury himself in reading. Besides he had already dated Flaky two nights before. But Cuddles and Giggles were one step ahead of the bear, and asked Flaky for him. Flaky agreed of course, and so Flippy had to go.

Not that he minded Flaky's company. On the contrary, he liked her very much, and his mind would often wander to the red porcupine. His chief worry was his Evil side, and the fact that Evil Flippy  
had several times killed Flaky [also worried him]. Yet since they officially dated, Evil had yet to dispatch the red porcupine's life, despite countless opportunities to do so.

He was clearly surprised when he saw Evil grinning at him at the mirror. _"I wonder what you see in that timid little porcupine?" _Evil asked through the mirror. _"You're a soldier and she doesn't deserve you! You deserve better! Though none of the females in this town appeal to me."_

"Shut up! I thought I had explained it to you!" Flippy mentally replied. "And I don't care what you think! I like her and there's nothing you can do!"

"_Oh I can easily kill her,"_ Evil replied. _"You know, the good thing about this town is there is so much death and destruction! Even if you defeated me, I would still emerge. Remind me to thank Lumpy, Mole and Splendid for giving me such opportunities to wreak havoc."_

"Good thing they come back, and they understand me! I'll never leave this town even if I could! You can never kill off my friends permanently!" Flippy growled.

"_Perhaps, but it doesn't matter! It only mean__s I won't run out of victims!"_ Evil replied. _"As for Flaky, we'll see. If you want her to be yours, keep in mind that she'd be mine too. We're the same after all."_

"Keep her out of this!" Flippy replied.

"_I would, but you're the one who keeps bringing her up! If I'd like to, I can do all sorts of things that would ensure the ruin__ of your relationship with her! But I digress. She's no threat to me. She can't reduce the amount of time I'm out there. And she's hardly the type to stop me on my killing sprees!" _Evil responded.

"Then why oppose our relationship? She's not a threat to you!"

Evil laughed. _"Who says I oppose her? If I really wanted her out of your life, I could have made it so a long time ago. No. I'm only perplexed and curious. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed not to kill her. But you'd be even more pathetic than before! I think she is unworthy of you, but maybe that can change."_

"How?"

"_How? Why should I tell you? I have a pretty good idea on how to test her if she's acceptable or not to me, and if not, well, God have mercy on both of you! My standards are different than yours, and if I tell you now, you'll just go and tell her so that she'd adjust to me! No! No!"_

"What do you mean?" asked a quizzical Flippy.

"_Let's just say I'd like to see if she can stand living with me__! Let's see if I can stand her company while flipped for a long time. And if she does, she'll be mine too, not only yours. If not, I'd make it my point to make life a living hell for both of you until you two break up!" _

With that, Evil suddenly disappeared from the mirror and Flippy was left wondering what he meant. His words were clear, yet he could not fathom what its implications were. What does he mean if he can stand her company? He thought. He was sure that his evil side was repelled by Flaky, and that Flaky hated his flipped-out state. What is he planning? Several times during their previous dates, he flipped, yet according to Flaky, he simply left her in one corner while he engaged in killing the others until he flipped backed. Flaky simply waited patiently until it was over, and never once gave Flippy a bad word for Evil Flippy's deeds.

That was one thing Flippy liked about Flaky. More than any resident of Happy Tree Town, she tolerates his occasional flip-outs. Recently, she even insisted, after he became normal, that they continue their date even after the chaos he had caused. Though clearly upset, as long Flippy didn't kill her, she was determined that it would not ruin their evening. "It happens," was Flaky's response. She was timid, ultra-cautious and always seems scared, but she can be brave when necessary.

He looked at himself in the mirror, approved at what he saw, and went to his jeep.

* * *

The Mole and Handy were besides an abandoned building ready for demolition. The Mole was the signalman while Handy operated the wrecking ball.

"Hey Mole! It's night, so I figured you'd be in your element! Just signal me with your hands when all is ready to go! Okay?"

It was not everyday that Handy would do such an important job at night. However, a couple of mishaps in the past few days caused the project they were working on to be delayed. And since it was an operation with a tight schedule, he decided to do the demolition at night to save time. He was counting on the fact that the Mole is in his element in the dark and as a result, they'd be able to do the job well.

Unfortunately, he did not account for the mishaps which could occur at any moment in this town, which more often than not, turn out to be fatal.

Mole gave a thumbs-up to Handy.

"Good!" Handy shouted. "I'm counting on you!"

"Hey Handy!" the handless beaver heard someone shout from the street. "You're doing the demolition tonight?"

Handy looked at the one shouting, and found out it was a yellow rabbit wearing a suit, with a blue tie, in a car. "Cuddles! Yes! It's quicker this way!" Handy shouted. "If anything goes wrong, fewer bystanders might get killed! Remember what happened during the last demolition?"

Cuddles cringed at the memory. Three days ago, Handy, Lumpy, and the Mole, in broad daylight tried to demolish a building. Mole operated the wrecking ball at the time, with predictable consequences. About seventeen of the tree friends died that day, including Cuddles, as the building was beside a road choked with traffic in the middle of rush hour.

"Yes! Good luck on this one though!" Cuddles shouted.

"How about you?" Handy shouted. "You looked dolled up! Going on a date?"

"As a matter of fact I am!" Cuddles shouted back. "I have a date with Giggles."

"Oh you have! Well, say hello to Giggles for me!" Handy replied.

"I would. And would you like me to say hello to Flippy and Flaky too?"

"What?"

"We've gone on a double date!" shouted Cuddles.

"Isn't that dangerous? Flippy's nice and all, but we all know what happens when he flips out!" Handy replied.

"So what? It wouldn't be the first time he'll kill Giggles and I! And I think he has better control. Just don't show him blood and gore and he'll be fine. And if he does flip, we'll still have some fun before we get killed!" Cuddles shouted.

"That's kind of scary!" Handy replied.

"I worked as a daredevil in a circus under Lumpy once!" Cuddles shouted. "Show me something scary and I'll do it!"

"Well, just say hello to Flippy and Flaky for me!" Handy replied back.

"Sure! Bye!" Cuddles waved to the amputee before stepping on the gas.

"Okay Mole!" Handy shouted to his colleague. "You can start the signalling!"

The orange beaver tried to clasp the levers of the machine. However, he forgot he had no hands and looked frustrated. Instead, he used his teeth to bite the lever for controlling the wrecking ball. That impaired his vision, however, as his eyes was focused on the floor and the side window where he can see Mole. He can't see the building he is supposed to wreck and he was forced to rely on Mole's directions. However, to Handy, it is better than Mole controlling the wrecking ball.

Cuddles glanced back at the site using his rear view mirror. He saw a glimpse of Mole and realized he didn't even greet his blind friend. Stopping the car, he stuck his head out of the car, and shouted to Mole. "Mole! Sorry about not greeting you earlier! I didn't see you! Well, hello Mole! Bye Mole!" Cuddles then went on to where he was going.

Mole turned around to the source of the voice and waved to Cuddles.

Unfortunately, Handy did not notice Cuddles' call, and mistook Mole's turning around and waving as directions for the wrecking ball. He twisted his head to adjust the crane, and as a result, tore a large hole in the building across the street. Luckily, it was a business building, and thus closed for the night. Mole then went back to give directions. He got confused by the noise of the wrecking ball, and thus faced the wrong direction when he gave his hand signals. Handy saw Mole give further directions and was confused, but did as Mole signalled. As a result, he inadvertently swung ball towards the machinery he is sitting on.

Luckily, Handy saw the giant iron ball coming, and managed to jump out before the collision. The beaver rolled on to the road as the machine burst into flames. He was bruised, but because of his hard hat, safe—until he saw a vehicle with blinding headlights come toward him. "I hope this doesn't hurt in the morning," was all Handy could say before the impact. He braced himself, but the vehicle stopped right in front of him.

"Handy, are you alright?" Flippy shouted as his head popped out of the jeep he was riding on.

"Yes," Handy said as he picked himself up.

Flippy looked at the burning crane and began to have flashbacks. He remembered the burning houses, the death, and the screams of the war and Evil Flippy was about to emerge.

Yet Flippy was made of sterner stuff. He shook his head and he remained normal.

"What happened!" he blurted out as he saw Mole walk towards the two.

"Miscommunication and mishap," Handy said as he saw a large gaping hole in the building across the street. The hole was so large that it was a miracle that it was still standing. "They're going to have my head for this."

Mole went up to Handy and gestured that he was apologizing.

"It's okay Mole. I should have known that this would happen," the amputee said to his companion.

"The important thing is that you're alive," Flippy said, relieved that no one died.

"At least the place is insured," Handy looked at Flippy and noticed he was also wearing a suit like Cuddles. "You're going out with Flaky with Cuddles and Giggles, right?"

"Yeah. I was planning on having a quiet night at home, but that rabbit was persistent!" Flippy chuckled. "How'd you know?"

"I met Cuddles just a few moments ago," Handy replied. "He said he was going on a double date with you."

"I'd love to help and chat, but I don't want to keep Flaky waiting," Flippy said as was about to leave.

"Okay. Bye!" Handy said.

A second later, the crane exploded. The explosion nearly flipped Flippy, but he held his composure, and he remained normal. But the explosion threw the heavy wrecking ball to the base of the building it earlier hit, and the building collapsed. Concrete, glass, iron bars, dust, and other debris spilled to the road and to the adjacent buildings. It caught Flippy, Handy, and Mole like a sitting duck. Flippy's jeep, designed for war, withstood the onslaught of the debris and protected the green bear, but Handy and the Mole were hit by concrete, glass and steel. Handy's face was bashed by a concrete block, his torso impaled by shards of glass, while Mole was impaled by several iron bars from the building.

Flippy was thankful that he had the presence of mind to close the windows of his car before dust and small pieces of debris could enter. Finding his windshield covered with dust and rock, he quickly turned the wiper, but froze with the first thing he saw.

Mole and Handy—dead, with their blood mixing with the dust and the stones outside. Their bodies were so disfigured by the rocks that Flippy could not resist Evil. He fell to the floor of the jeep, and when he got up, he had yellow eyes and sharp teeth.

Evil had emerged.

* * *

Flaky was sitting on her couch, waiting for Flippy to arrive. She was worried that she would keep Cuddles and Giggles waiting. They wouldn't mind, of course, but Flaky was a very punctual girl.

Maybe Flippy had flipped out? Flaky thought. It as a very real possibility. Flippy several times had already stood up Flaky because he turned evil. Several times, she had caught Flippy on his rampages. Instead of running away, she simply hid and followed the bear until he became normal, and approached him. The bear would become apologetic to the porcupine, but Flaky would just brush it off. Several times, instead of starting a seven or eight, they'd start at ten or eleven, and would end their date on the wee hours of the morning.

As it was, this was the major cause of strain in their relationship. Flippy—the normal Flippy—was one of the kindest men she had ever met. He is polite, sociable, trusting, and handsome. And he is a good provider as his status as a veteran, and the spoils of war that he looted while a soldier, ensured a steady supply of income. He is good friends with her other friends—Petunia, Giggles, Cuddles, Toothy, and Sniffles—as evidenced by the fact that they continue to include him in some of their activities even knowing the risks. And he had captured her heart.

And no amount of Evil could stand in her way. When Flippy and Flaky started dating, she apparently did not know how to deal with the fact that her life is in mortal danger every time she was with Flippy, but she adapted. After all, Evil Flippy managed to emerge on only half their dates, and since Flippy's mental battle, only about a quarter. She had one great relief—ever since getting together with the veteran, Evil Flippy was somehow convinced by the good Flippy to refrain from killing her. But it was her only relief. Every time he emerged, he would leaver her where she was cowering while he did his deadly work to the others around them.

She decided to call Giggles using her cell phone and inform her that they might be late. "Giggles, I'm sorry, but we might be late."

"Is something wrong?" asked the chipmunk.

"He's late—more late than usual. I'm beginning to think that he's flipped," Flaky confided. "So our date may be postponed by at least two hours. Go on ahead without us."

"Have you had definite news?"

"No. But—"

"Then we'll wait for you. Cuddles hadn't arrived too, and I'm not suggesting that he flipped out too!"

"But what if—"

"Don't worry. I'll keep you posted if I Flippy did flip. Until then, our date is on!"

"Well, okay. Thanks," Flaky said before hanging up. This was not their first double date with Cuddles and Giggles of course, and Evil Flippy had routinely murdered Cuddles and Giggles when he flipped out during their double dates. But the rabbit and the chipmunk simply brushed it off. Her friends in this town were what she wanted in friends—they were true to her and understood her plight—even if they had a tendency to force her into activities which she deems too dangerous. Her will to make her own decisions seems to wither at the mere suggestion of Cuddles or any of her other friends.

But she was used to all of this.

She finally heard the all too familiar sound of the jeep as it was parked besides her lawn. Not daring to peek at Flippy's arrival she listened as she heard the vehicle door opened, the sounds of footsteps on the pavement, and the sound of the jeep door being slammed shut. She eagerly and excitedly listened as the familiar sound of the veteran's footsteps became closer and louder. Finally, she nearly shrieked in excitement as she heard what she had been expecting all night—the knock on the door. So Flippy did not flip after all, she though. After all, Evil Flippy would not bother with her when he went on his rampages.

She eagerly opened the door. "Flippy, I—" but gasped as she saw the yellow eyes and the sharp teeth that she hoped she would never see.

"Yes Flaky," Evil said in the low voice that definitely confirmed that he had flipped. Flaky backed as Flippy advanced on her.

"Please don't kill me! Please leave me alone!" she timidly begged as backed on to her sofa and collapsed as Evil towered over her.

He chuckled evilly. "The former, I won't. The good Flippy seemed attached to you, and you know that I don't kill my dates. The latter, I'm afraid I can't oblige you. I'm afraid I'll have to go on a date with you. And I won't take no for an answer. Besides, you can't refuse. You've promised Flippy a date, and I am Flippy! So this time, you won't be stood up."

Flaky was surprised by his answer. "Why? Why don't you just leave me alone while you kill the others, like you used to?"

"I've been thinking," the evil bear replied as he played with his bowie knife. "At first, I thought that Flippy would simply ditch you once he found out what a pathetic little lass you are! So I decided not to interfere. Apparently, there is something in you beyond timidity and cowardliness that attached Flippy to you. I thought that he wanted to satisfy his lust, but I was mistaken. Then there was the fact that you wouldn't leave him even at the risk of your own mortality speaks well of your courage—though obviously, death threats doesn't mean much in this town."

Flaky was amazed that Evil Flippy would talk to her in such a frank manner.

"Flippy apparently decided to make his attachment to you permanent. You didn't know that, didn't you? You'll find out soon enough! But it would affect me. And I for one would like to know what that doppelganger of mine would plunge us into before he makes the irrevocable jump."

"What do you mean by permanent attachment?" Flaky asked.

"That slipped my tongue, didn't it? No matter. It doesn't concern me. Tonight, I will find out if you are acceptable to me! If not, then I'd make life a living hell for you and Flippy until he calls it off! I'd take every opportunity to kill you in the most gruesome manner every time I'm out, and I'll make every effort to ruin your life. And Flippy's. And believe me. What I had done previously was just child's play compared to the damage I can really cause!! In this town, you can't really be killed, but I know of things that could really turn your blood cold. Trust me, you won't like it a bit!"

"And if you find me acceptable for Flippy?" Flaky couldn't help but ask.

"Who says acceptable to Flippy? Of course you are. If you're not, he would have dumped you months ago. No. Acceptable to me! Me. What you call Evil Flippy! Because if Flippy makes you his, then you'll also be mine!"

"So what if I'm acceptable to you?" Flaky could barely ask the question.

"If on the small chance, I do find you acceptable, things would be better for you and Flippy. Things would go on as usual, but believe me, Flippy will have to share you with me. And you will find out what it really means to be in my company. So think of this as a get-to-know-you date. You can't refuse. You know you can't. Now let's go! I'll show you what real fun is! Don't worry. I won't rape you. You won't get physically hurt. But I won't promise that you won't be psychologically scarred! You will find out the joys of the battlefield and the killing of the enemy!"

The bear grabbed the still cowering and unwilling porcupine from her couch, and essentially dragged her into his jeep. Clasping her tightly with seatbelts besides him, he started the engines. Flaky was turning white with fear as he looked at the evil Flippy besides her.


	2. The Agreement

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter 2**

**The Agreement**

Flaky's red face nearly turned to white as she froze with fear. The seatbelts were too tight, and she was unable to release herself. Oh please let it be a dream. Or please let me die a quick death if it comes to that. Please snap Flippy back to normal. She could only imagine what Evil Flippy was planning to do to her. She could see the road before her. There were no other vehicles—that much she can be thankful for. She could only imagine the carnage if Evil Flippy drove on a crowded highway and got stuck in traffic.

She could hear the excited but heavy breathing of Flippy. It was the breathing of the desperate and the angry, yet Evil Flippy's mood is clearly not angry or desperate. He could see that he was delighted in a sadistic sort of way. "Please! Where are you taking me?"

"As I said, I'm taking you on a date!" he laughed. "I think we'll go through with the double date with Giggles and Cuddles. It would be impolite to skip it, wouldn't you think? I'm going to enjoy their company—both dead and alive!!!"

"You're going to kill them?" Flaky shrieked.

"My dear Flaky! I'm surprised you even asked that question!" Evil Flippy said in mock surprise. "I thought you weren't dumb, but that last thing you said made me think. Can you count the number of times I killed both of them? Six? Seven? Those two are so killable, don't you think?"

Flaky decided to ask what she had in mind. "Then if you're going to kill them, what do mean by going through the double date with Giggles and Cuddles?"

"Let's just say that I'll make our date a little more interesting that what you're used to," he chuckled.

* * *

Pop was driving home in his car. Cub was seated at the back at the infant car seat. He was happily cooing with his gameboy while Pop happily checked on him periodically through the rear view mirror.

Russell was in the front seat besides him. Pop could not understand half of the words Russell used, as he still spoke with sailor slang in his conversations. In fact, it was disconcerting to listen to an otter that starts every speech with 'Yarr.' Still, it was not difficult to discern what he meant. "Yarr! So what do ye think of the offer?"

"I'll think about it," Pop said. "It'll bring a lot of cash. And it would ensure Cub's future. But I am a single father, you know. Who'll take care of Cub?"

"Yarr! The museum will only need ye about three days a week. Ye can either choose Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday," the pirate replied. "And ye be raking in the doubloons if ye join!"

"Could you again repeat what I'm supposed to do if I accept?"

"Yarr! That's the spirit, matey!! It's as easy as sailin' a ship with the wind and castin' anchor," the sea otter replied. "Ye be part of the staff of Admiral Lumpy in fixin' the museum tours and such."

"Who'll be the other members of his staff?" asked the bear.

"Yarr! Sniffles be already in," Russell responded. "Yarr! And Lumpy has his eye on Flippy as a cockswain on the landsmen of the museum. Cuddles and Toothy be the captain of ticket sales and such, while Petunia be quartermaster of grand, grand collections!"

"So why does Lumpy think that I'd like to work for him? I'm not exactly his biggest fan!"

"Yarr! He doesn't," Russell replied. "The position be as wide open as a whale's open mouth. He might or might not accept ye if ye apply."

"But how could it be an offer then? I'm not going to beg to get that job you know!"

"Yarr! But ye won't have to," Russell added. "Remember when I said Lumpy wants Flippy to organize the landlubber part of the museum, Matey?"

"Yes."

"Yarr! Lumpy doesn't think it's proper to directly ask the veteran if he wants the job," the one-eyed otter said. "If ye go and sway Flippy to apply, then Lumpy would be so grateful that ye be a shoe-in for the job."

"Oh I see! But what makes you think Flippy would listen to me?" asked Pop.

"Yarr! I don't know. Shiver me timbers, ye be not exactly close to him like Cuddles, Toothy, or Flaky. But he doesn't have a reason not to trust ye. He knows ye be an honest landsman. And both of ye be bears. Besides, ye know the good Flippy be a decent tar. Don't ye think he deserves to be on account?"

"Okay. I'll talk to him about the museum job. Is now a good idea?"

"Yarr! Nay. I've heard he be on a date with Flaky," Russell replied. "Oh look! Thar be Flippy's jeep!"

Pop could see the jeep's outline against the horizon in the straight road as it approached their car. "Wonder if we should stop them? I'd like to ask him about it now," Pop wondered.

The jeep was now closer. Russell could now see Flippy, though not his eyes. He could also see Flaky besides him. "Yarr! Nay," Russell replied. "He be with Flaky, and I don't think it be wise to shake 'em."

They continued on as Flippy's jeep passed them. There was, however, an object that was thrown from Flippy's car to Pop's car. The car window was open, so it landed on Pop's lap.

"Yarr! A grenade!" Russell shouted.

* * *

Flaky gasped as she saw, in the rear view mirror, Pop's car explode from the grenade.

"That was convenient," Evil Flippy said as he closed the car window. "It saved me time. I would have made them suffer a bit if I'm not occupied at the moment."

"What are you planning to do tonight?" Flaky asked again.

"How many times have you asked that question, Flaky?" the green bear asked. "But since you asked, I'll tell you. And since you've been such a good little girl, I'll let you join in!"

Flippy described what he intends to do, and Flaky's part in it.

"No! Go ahead and do what you want! But don't make me do it! They're my friends!" Flaky cried.

"My dear Flaky, I'll make it plain so that even you can understand it," Evil Flippy said. "You want Flippy, right?"

Flaky could only nod.

"And you believe that I should not stand in the way, correct?"

Flaky on made incomprehensible sounds signifying her assent.

"Then I won't! But I have my price!" Evil Flippy shouted. He suddenly took something from his pocket and shoved it to Flaky's face.

The porcupine shouted as her fear jumped ten times over. She looked at the evil, the monstrous… little yellow baby chick. She however, saw it something that would literally eat her and do serious harm. Her phobia's source was forgotten by the recesses of time, but her fear clung to her like adhesive. "Get it away! Get it away from me!" she screamed at the top oh her lungs. She was hyperventilating. "Please! That chick would kill us both!!"

"Scream all you want! This jeep is soundproof. And don't think it'd flip me back," Evil Flippy replied. "It might have before Flippy engaged me in mental battle, but the same thing that made him more resistant to me, makes me stronger while I'm out. And to think that Flippy fell in love with a diffident girl who's afraid of a little chick." The bear put the chick back in his pocket.

"Flippy fell in love with me?" Flaky asked, even as she was still wrapped in fear. The pocketing of the chick had a calming effect on her.

"Oh you didn't know? He hasn't told you? That bear is as lily-livered as you," Evil Flippy mocked. "I might as well make it easier for you two. Yes, he is in love with you, though why I have no idea. There are a million girls who deserve Flippy more than you. But he made his choice. You have no idea how many times you appear in his dreams, how many times he mentioned you to me, how many times he made me sick by how he talked about you! That is why, as I told you before, I'm taking you out! To get to know you better! Now, let me ask you a question. You love Flippy, don't you? Because if you don't, then I'll make sure you die everyday in the most painful and gruesome manner for leading him on! Now talk!"

"Yes, I do love him, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Flaky replied, still terrified, but happy inside at Evil Flippy's revelation. "And thank you for telling me that he loves me."

"Oh I only said that for my own reasons. Flippy is lucky. When he marries you, he'll have an extremely pliable wife who'll do everything he tells you to," Evil Flippy mused. "And from my perspective, it's even better. You want to be together with him, right? Of course you do! Do you want me to stop interfering?"

Flaky thought about it. Everything with the good Flippy was perfect. The only thing that strained their relationship was Evil Flippy. The only thing that made things difficult, and cast a sword of Damocles over their union, would be Evil Flippy. They were happy, but always with a fear of what his evil counterpart might do. Now she was being offered the chance that the fear of Evil Flippy in their relationship would be gone, or at least be tamed. And the offer was made by the object of that fear. She might experience total happiness with Flippy without any worries. Would she do anything to attain that dream of hers, especially as it was made a distinct possibility by Evil Flippy himself? Yes she would.

"Yes," Flaky replied.

"Good. But before we make the bargain, I'd like to state all the terms by which I'd make the offer. I'll lay all my cards on the table. You can either take it or leave it, okay?"

"Okay," she whimpered.

Flippy took out a piece of paper from the back of the jeep and turned the lights of his vehicle on. He began reading the document.

* * *

"Here are my terms. I, the Evil side of Flippy, having attained the age of majority, veteran and war hero of the last war, and of legal capacity to enter into a contract, pledge that I would not interfere in the romantic life of Flippy and Flaky. I would not stand in the way if they propose to take the ultimate step of marriage, and I would not attempt to ruin the relationship in any way. I would make every endeavour to make their match full of happiness. I promise that if any children would come out of this union, I would not kill them. I promise that I'll also protect not only Flippy's life, but the life of Flaky and any children she might have with Flippy. I promise that I will respect her chastity. I would promote Flippy and Flaky's relationship, and I would do my best to hasten it.

"However, nothing in this agreement shall be construed to extend to any of Flaky or Flippy's friends or other relations and relatives, both collateral and conjugal, and I shall be free to do with them as I please. In other words, this contract cannot be invoked to stop me from killing, maiming, or torturing Flaky and Flippy's friends—and complete strangers.

"It shall be Flaky's option whether or not to keep this agreement secret. Nevertheless, it shall be binding whatever her choice will be.

"I affirm that I have read all the terms of this contract, and that if I sign, I sign with my full approval, without any reservations, and with my own free will.

Flippy then handed the document to Flaky. "Now it's your turn."

Flaky, shaking, took the contract and read the paragraphs pointed to by Evil Flippy. "In return, I, Flaky, the red porcupine of Happy Tree Town, having attained the age of majority, and with legal capacity to enter into a contract, will not interfere in any way, and would not do any activity that might produce, either directly or indirectly, such interference, when Evil Flippy decides to murder or torture other creatures, even if they are my closest friends.

"I, Flaky, promise that if and when Evil Flippy is in control, I shall do whatever he tells me, except if it would involve carnal knowledge before marriage, and if it would directly impugn my relationship with Flippy.

"If I should marry Flippy, then I'll give all the privileges and rights of my husband with respect to my property, my person, and my will, to Evil Flippy, except anything pertaining to carnal knowledge if I so desire it. But Evil Flippy, in return, shall not incur, or bear, any of the commensurate responsibilities of a husband, except that of protection and provision.

"I also would not break up with good Flippy or do anything to cause such break-up.

"I shall, if Evil Flippy requests it, give positive assistance in his projects and activities, no matter how repugnant it may be to me or my morals.

"Any ambiguity and disagreement on the terms of this contract shall be resolved in evil Flippy's favor.

"I affirm that I have read all the terms of this contract, and that if I sign, I sign with my full approval, without any reservations, and with my own free will.

"This agreement shall be perpetual, or until both parties mutually agree to terminate it.

Signed

Evil Flippy and Flaky

* * *

"So what do you think?"

Flaky was astonished. Here was Evil Flippy not only tolerating her relationship with Flippy, but positively encouraging it. He was even willing to further it, to guarantee it, and was assuming that they would eventually be married. That was more than she wanted. Evil Flippy was even promising that he would protect her and even her children if it comes to that. All that Flaky ever wanted with her relationship with the good Flippy Evil Flippy is offering.

But what was the price? She loves Flippy, and she was willing to pay any price. But what is required of her?

"Basically, it's a quid pro quo. A compromise. I don't like all of it, and you don't like every word of it. But we'll both get something we want," Evil Flippy offered.

"I want to think about it," Flaky whispered. "I don't want to rush—"

"Don't sign now. Take all the time you need. But just to be sure you won't complain that you've been duped, I'll show you what it means. I'll show you the worst part of it, and judge by yourself if you still want it just to get the good parts!" Evil Flippy snarled. "Remember the activity that I earlier proposed we do tonight? Well, we're going to do it—regardless of your objections."

* * *

Sniffles was at his desk studying a set of plans. Normally, he would have been at his laboratory conducting experiments with his chemicals, but he had finished early, and he was now occupied with plans of the opening of Lumpy's museum.

Petunia was besides him studying a different set of papers. The skunk has a crush on the anteater ever since the hostage situation with Shifty and Lifty, but Sniffles, despite all her efforts to flirt and to give hints, was oblivious, as he was stuck in his world of science and general knowledge. Supremely gifted in book smarts, he can be surprisingly naïve in certain things in life.

Petunia had used her obsessive compulsive disorder—being a neat freak—to good use by operating, with Giggles, a cleaning service. Her passion for cleanliness made her work easy and profitable. She made the offer of free cleaning for Sniffles allegedly to thank him, but really to spend more time with him. Furthermore, to increase the time she would spend with the anteater, she volunteered to be lab assistant of Sniffles. Sniffles initially thought that he didn't need one, but when his lab turned from topsy turvy to orderly, when his work output increased when he can easily find his instruments (organized by type by Petunia), when he didn't need to clean after—all because of Petunia, the skunk quickly became indispensable to Sniffles' life as a scientist. Furthermore, his dependence deepened when Petunia began to cook, to entertain visitors, to pay bills for Sniffles, to answer errands, to do the groceries, and in general, to make Sniffles life more orderly. It became such that Sniffles found out that he cannot do without Petunia's help. All exactly as the blue skunk planned.

Presently, Petunia, aside from her service to Sniffles, was also employed by Lumpy in his museum as organizer and administrator. Her OCD mind readily saw where things were messy and disorderly, and made the arrangements to make it structured and systematic. She is now in Sniffles house, and after helping Sniffles with an experiment, was studying, with the anteater, the plans for the museum.

"Lumpy's plan is full of holes. This wouldn't do for the opening of a shack, much less for a museum," Sniffles told Petunia.

"That's why Lumpy gave it to you. To modify and make it acceptable," Petunia replied.

"I don't think _modify_ is the term. It should be _scrap_ and make a new one instead," Sniffles replied. "So how's your work going along?"

"The new museum collection arrivals are all mixed up. I've divided the exhibit into five areas, corresponding to the number of halls of the building," Petunia replied. "There should be an exhibit on Ships and the navy, military weapons and uniforms, science, the disco era, and the environment. I've suggested, and Lumpy agreed, that the adviser on those on ships should be Russell, Military would go to Flippy, Science, of course, to you, the Disco Era would go to Disco Bear, and the environment should go to Giggles."

"Yes. You did a fine job, Petunia," Sniffles praised. "Lumpy already approached his friend Russell, and Russell accepted. But as you know, Lumpy was too lazy to do the rest, so he asked Russell to ask the others. Of course, there are still a couple of empty spots. Accounting and Finance I'll take, but marketing and administration are unfilled."

"Do you think it's wise to use Flippy as military adviser and guide? I mean he's got the requisite knowledge, but don't you think all those weapons would make Flippy flip?" Petunia asked.

"Flippy can control himself better this time," Sniffles replied. "Flaky is there to help him. Besides, what if he killed a couple of the staff and the customers? It's expected, and it's covered in the insurance. Lumpy already caused the death of several of the museum workers through his carelessness, but the work still goes forward."

"But would he accept?" asked Petunia.

"That's the big question mark," Sniffles responded. "Do you think I should call Flippy and ask him myself?"

"Silly Sniffles! You're too focused on your experiments and your work that you don't know what's happening around you!" Petunia playfully chided. "He's in a date with Flaky! In fact, he's double dating with Cuddles and Giggles."

"Oh I see," Sniffles replied. "Oh never mind. Let Lumpy take care of that problem!"

"So why don't you go out on a date?" asked Petunia with a barely disguised hint.

"Oh please! Flaky is taken and Giggles has Cuddles. And it's a waste of time! I have so much work to do! I can't afford to goof off! In fact, if it weren't for you, I've would have been behind schedule!"

"What if I find you a girl?" asked Petunia. "Will you agree then?"

"No thanks. If I did decide to go on a date, I would like it to be that I'd choose and court her myself," Sniffles replied. "I really don't like it if someone would be setting me up with anybody they fancy. I'll start dating if and only if I deem myself ready, and not a second sooner. And right now, I'm not. I'm just too busy."

Petunia sighed. This was his reply every time she suggested anything even vaguely romantic to Sniffles. Still she was patient, and she could wait. Her one consolation is that she has no rival for his affections, and with his attitude, she won't have one. It would take a long time for Petunia to make Sniffles see things her way, but it would be worth it.

The talk had drifted back to the museum when the doorbell rang.

"Could you please—"

"Yes, I'll see who it is," Petunia cut him off. The skunk quickly went to the front door.

It was Flaky, who was looking more nervous and fearful than usual. She was sweating profusely, and seems none too comfortable. "Flaky?"

"Hi Petunia," Flaky waved. "Um, what are you doing in Sniffles' house?"

Petunia blushed. "Don't you remember, I'm Sniffles lab assistant, and I'm also helping with the museum. Come in! I thought you were in a date with Flippy. Let me guess, he flipped out, didn't he? And you want to crash in while waiting for him to come to. Come in! I'll fix you up a cup of coffee and—"

"I-I-I-I n-n-n-n-need to talk to you, privately," Flaky stuttered, her eyes looking left and right, and she couldn't look at Petunia's eyes. "Please follow me," she directed.

Flaky began backing up, as Petunia followed her. Flaky stopped at the side of the road, but within the hearing range of Sniffles house. That's when Petunia noticed Flippy's jeep beside the road. "Flaky, what's going on?"

Flaky suddenly burst into tears. "Oh I'm so sorry, Petunia! Please forgive me!"

Before the skunk could reply, her chest was suddenly impaled, and she saw in horror a green hand holding her beating heart in front of her. She screamed as loud as she could. Flippy then withdrew his hand from her body as he watched her slump to the ground. He took a bite of her heart, before tossing it to Flaky.

Flaky screamed as she tossed the bitten heart away. She cried as she saw Petunia's lifeless and heartless body on the ground lying on the pool of her own blood. But she mostly cried over her own role in the murder. She turned, unable to look at the carnage, and cried her heart out.

"That scream ought to draw Sniffles out!" Evil Flippy chuckled at he disappeared into the darkness.

Sniffles quickly ran out when he heard the scream. He was shocked when he saw that Petunia was dead and Flaky was crying besides her. But he was not surprised that it happened. Such things, after all, were far too common in this town. He wondered what had caused it this time as he ran towards Flaky and Petunia, and whether he would be dead before the night is out.

"Not again! What happened?" Sniffles asked.

Flaky looked at him with eyes full of tears as a large heavy stick hit Sniffles' head. Sniffles fell to the ground in pain as Evil Flippy hit him repeatedly. His blood, then his skull, then his brains splattered all over Flippy and Flaky and the ground around them as it was struck perhaps a hundred times. Sniffles screamed for all he was worth—until death silenced him.

When Evil Flippy finished about a minute later, the various parts of Sniffles' head were scattered all over the place. "Hitting the anteater in the head was crude, but the screams of pain more than made up for it!"

Flaky fell on her knees, beat her fists to the ground, and sobbed as she never cried before.

Evil Flippy looked at Flaky. "Dry your tears. You know well enough that they'll be good as new tomorrow," he chided. "Isn't it exciting? Isn't it fun?"

"You're sick!!!" Flaky shouted.

"I know. Now you know what I meant when I said you'll do as I say, and if you sign the contract, you could never look at it any other way," Evil Flippy growled. "You were excellent, by the way. The way you looked pathetic and tearful—all drew them out, and they never knew what hit them! You are beginning to become more and more acceptable!"

In order to assuage her conscience, she began telling herself, "they'll be back, tomorrow!" over and over again, as she shivered at the memory of what she had just witnessed.

Was this the price she would pay in order to live in bliss with the good Flippy? That she would be an accomplice to murder?

"Let's go! I have something better planned for the evening!" Evil Flippy harshly barked, and Flaky meekly went to the jeep.

* * *

Cuddles and Giggles were at the bus stop—the place where they were to meet Flippy and Flaky. They had arrived at least a half-hour ago, and they were done making out. Cuddles was wiping the kiss marks on his yellow cheeks when he looked at the time. "Whoa! We've been waiting here for half an hour! I wish they'd hurry up. I'm hungry, and it's getting late!"

Giggles was fixing her make-up. "I just hope Flippy didn't flip-out! Poor Flaky! To be stood up so many times by no fault of Flippy!"

"Yes, not to mention poor us! I couldn't anymore count the number of times we've been killed by that psychotic bear!" Cuddles replied as he began pacing back and forth under the light of the bus stop. "Still, at least we had a good time before we got killed. Oh I really love this town! Here, not even death could stop us!! Death here is nothing really!"

"Stop talking about death like that! It's not fun, you know! That's why you keep getting killed!" Giggles scolded. "Flaky called and said she'd be late. I told her we'll be waiting for her no matter what."

"If Flippy did flip out, if we weren't killed first, then we'd be in for a long wait," Cuddles said a he lied on the bench, using Giggles' lap as a pillow. "Wake me up when they arrive."

Giggles simply laughed as she looked at Cuddles. He can so childish at times, yet she thought, so can she. They were adults, yet they still played hide and seek, had fun at the playground, conducted a school play, and went on field trips on school buses. Maybe it was because they looked like they were still children, even if their close circle of friends and acquaintances are either the late twenties, to the late teens. The oldest is Disco Bear, who close to forty, next is Pop, who is 29, though he looks much older because of family tragedy, Lumpy, 28, and Flippy, about 26. The youngest is Cub, about two years of age. Next is Toothy, about 18.

Giggles was interrupted in her musings when she heard the distant motor of a jeep, and she knew that Flippy, and possibly Flaky, was coming. She looked on the road, and she could see two headlights coming their way. The jeep's outline was silhouetted across the starlit night horizon. "Hey sleepy head, wake up! They're here!"

Cuddles opened his eyes. "Already? But I was just getting some nice sleep! And I'm dreaming you're there!" He yawned as he stretched his arms and stood up. He jumped in front of the road and waved his arms.

"Cuddles! Stay out of the road! You might get hit!" Giggles shouted.

"Oh don't be like Flaky and be a scaredy-cat!" Cuddles said. "You haven't lived your life if you hadn't risked it! Besides, there are no other vehicles for miles around!"

The car headed for Cuddles at full speed. It slowed down as it approached the bus stop. For a few moments, it looked as if it might not be able to stop in time and would hit Cuddles.

"Cuddles, get out of there!" Giggles screamed.

"Don't worry! Unless Flippy's flipped, he'll stop just in time! If he flipped, we're dead anyway! Hey Flippy! What's up?" Cuddles shouted.

Giggles could only shake her head at the rabbit's reckless bravado, but the jeep stopped just a few feet in front of Cuddles. Flaky immediately popped from the side window. "Cuddles, are you okay?"

"Yes! Never been better!" Cuddles shouted as Flaky went out the jeep.

"Cuddles, look, I decided—" Flaky began, but was interrupted.

"Flaky! You've been crying all night!" Giggles interjected. "Are you okay?"

"She's never been better!" Cuddles heard Flippy say. But something was wrong. Flippy's voice was lower. He looked at the bear who was now outside and holding a rifle. His eyes were yellow, and his breathing ragged.

"He's flipped!" Cuddles shouted as Evil Flippy shot him. Cuddles winced as he saw a tranquilizer dart embed itself on his arm. He quickly removed it, but promptly collapsed.

Giggles screamed as she ran to Cuddles' car. She was about to start the engine when she heard the voice she most feared. "Going somewhere," he chuckled from behind. Giggles screamed, but was silenced when something hard hit her head.

* * *

Flaky did not know what to do. The veteran did something unexpected. Evil Flippy had tied the two unconscious Tree Friends similarly—hands behind with rope, rope at the ankles, and mouths packed with cloth and sealed with duct tape. He picked them up, and dumped them at the back seat. Evil Flippy beckoned Flaky to get inside the jeep, and Flaky instantly obeyed.

"Why don't you just kill them?" Flaky asked, "Not that I wanted you to."

"Flippy promised a double date, and I won't renege on that promise!" Evil Flippy replied as both looked at the two sleeping forms. "But it would be a double date on my terms! And it isn't going to be pretty! Now, you know for sure what it means to be with Flippy, and to be with me! Are you going to sign the contract, or not?"

Flaky was uncertain. She really didn't want to harm her friends, yet the prospect of a happy and perfect life with good Flippy was such an enticing prospect that she could hardly doubt her choice. She wanted Flippy! She wanted to live with Flippy forever. And what she's doing now is not going to be permanent. No! They're going to be alive tomorrow! That, at least, would mitigate the damage she could cause while serving Evil Flippy. She would do no harm that's going to be permanent. And maybe she could at least moderate Evil Flippy's behavior if Evil Flippy would spend more time with her.

"Yes, I'll sign the contract," whispered Flaky, trembling as she signed the document.

"Excellent!" Evil Flippy said as he signed his name after Flaky signed hers. "I think a little celebration is in order."

Evil Flippy opened his bottle of water, and threw its contents at the faces of Cuddles and Giggles. Both of them came to and screamed when they saw Evil Flippy. The bear only chuckled as their gags silenced them. Both were fearful and nervous.

"Cuddles, Giggles, you're probably wondering why you're still alive," Evil Flippy began. "I won't tell you, but perhaps Flaky, after this day is over, might oblige you. Depending on how tonight will turn out, I might, or might not, kill you. Don't worry. If I decide to end your pathetic lives tonight, you two will be my last victims. So be on your best behavior and I might spare you."

Cuddles and Giggles can only look at each other and decipher what Evil Flippy's intentions are. It was too much of a surprise that it silenced them.

The psychotic bear turned to Flaky. "Now, let's make a list. Handy and Mole are already dead—they were killed at the construction site. Pop, Cub, and Russell died in their cars, and Sniffles and Petunia are gone. That's seven deaths already. Cuddles and Giggles of course are ours, so who's left?"

Flaky was unsure about how to answer the question.

"There's Splendid, but I'm homicidal, not suicidal, so he's out. Lumpy, Nutty, Toothy, Disco Bear, Mime, Shifty, Lifty, and Cro Marmot—about eight more to kill!" Evil Flippy proclaimed, rubbing his hands in barely concealed glee. "This would be so much fun, don't you agree Flaky?"

**Notes:**

SPOILER ALERT!!!

1)Since he was a pirate, I decided to use the following conventions for Russell's speech. (a) I always start his speech with 'Yarr' as it is the only thing he says in the cartoons. (b) You is converted to 'ye', yes to 'aye' and no to 'nay.' (c)All his tenses are present, and all his linking verbs (is, are, am) are converted to 'be'. (d) All words ending with a 'g' would have their 'g' replaced with a '. For example, sailing would be sailin'. Of course, there are others I might have forgot.

2)The chick phobia, is, as all of you know, from _A to Zoo._ I was originally going to make it as the weapon to force Flaky do Evil Flippy's bidding, but I decided it was too cheesy, and made it instead as something to illustrate the futility of her screams in snapping good Flippy back.

3)In _Double Whammy_, Flaky's scream apparently snapped Evil Flippy back. It was not, however, consistent, as she also screamed _Keeping it Reel_ and didn't flip him back. However, I made it so, for the interest of the plot, that Flippy, after the battle in _Double Whammy 2_, would have stronger resistance to Evil Flippy when not flipped. Conversely, once he had flipped, Evil Flippy would develop greater resistance to the normal Flippy.

4)I was originally going make Flippy force Flaky help him in his murders, in exchange for mere non-interference with Flippy and Flaky's relationship. However, I decided to make it so that Flippy would offer something that Flaky genuinely desires, and it would be more of an agreement of equals. Why would Flippy do this? It'll be explained in future chapters.

5)The plot with Sniffles and Petunia, and that of Pop and Russell, are not simply to set up their deaths, but to foreshadow future plot elements. Their conversations, for example, may or may not have a dramatic effect in future chapters.

6)This story takes place after my earlier fiction _New Troubles_. It would be desirable, though not strictly required, that it be read first. However, the reader could easily follow the plot of this story without reading the first story.

7)Why did Flaky agree to set up Petunia even without signing the contract? Because of her timid nature, and her tendency to be easily pushed around by other stronger characters. Several times, Cuddles, like in _Let it Slide_, and _Wrong Side of the Tracks_, made her do things that she normally would not do, while in _Snow Place to Go_, the others volunteered Flaky to get the can of beans from the dead hands of Giggles because she's the least likely to refuse. If Evil Flippy, whom she is so afraid of, demands something for her, I don't think she can refuse, unless it's a matter of life and death. And she knows that the dead don't stay dead for long.

8)Petunia's death is like Giggles' death in _Every Litter Bit Hurts._

**Deadliving**, thank you.

**Light Through The Veins, **oh I didn't see it. Thanks for the correction. I replaced chapter 1 with the correction you suggested.

It's more like evil Flippy finding out if he can stand Flaky. And Flippy will squeeze out every advantage that he could from the situation.

Thanks!!

**Laurentius Berry, **thanks for the kind review.

**Flipped Out Soldier, **well, here it is! Thanks!! It would probably very bloody.

To all my reviewers. Thanks you. I hope you liked this chaper.


	3. Death and Dinner

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter 3**

**Death and Dinner  
**

The jeep was silent for a few minutes as it drove through the night. Cuddles and Giggles had no choice but to keep quiet, and were leaning on each other for comfort. Flaky was too afraid to say anything, and Evil Flippy was too busy thinking to talk. It was not until they parked a few yards besides a house on top of a tree that the quiet spell was broken.

The house was perched on top of a tree with stairs connecting it to the ground. "That's Disco Bear's house," Flippy said to Flaky. "As you know, I can easily kill that bear inside his house as well as outside without any help. But, since you already signed the contract, I'm telling you to go inside and lure him out. I know you're a smart girl, so I don't need to tell you how to do it."

Cuddles and Giggles could only wonder—what is going on? They were only astonished as Flaky did not give any sign of resistance to Flippy's order. What kind of hold does Evil Flippy have to make Flaky the helper of his murderous sprees?

Flaky was sick to her soul. She began having doubts about singing the agreement. Is it the right thing to do? Was she too selfish? This and other thoughts swirled in her head as she ascended the stairs to Disco Bear's home. Having already dried her tears, she resisted the urge to burst into tears anew. She only knew one thing—if death in this town is permanent, then nothing in a million years could induce her to sign the agreement, and help in the murder of her friends. As it was, the fact that death was not lasting eased her conscience a bit and made her more willing to agree to Evil Flippy's terms. And Evil Flippy was right—her will was very pliable, and she, among the other tree friends, was the least likely to resist the others suggestions and orders.

The fact that she was right in front of Disco Bear's door intruded into her thoughts. She raised her hands to knock, hesitated, then overcame her distaste for what she is about to do and knocked.

She could hear the sound of a phonograph churning disco music as Disco Bear opened the door.

Disco Bear was actually surprised to see Flaky. Never in his entire life in Happy Tree Town had any girl actually knocked on his door at night. Which confounded him no end—was he not God's gift to women in this town? He could not understand why the two girls who were the most frequent object of his attentions—Giggles and Petunia—constantly resist his advances. Or were they resisting him? Surely not! Not an Adonis like him! Though already near middle age, his groovy moves, and his passion for popular disco music—disco was never dead and will forever live!!—make him completely irresistible. They must be playing hard to get. They surely enjoyed the prospect of being courted by such a handsome guy like him that they want it to be longer and prolonged. He did not notice Flaky before—she was too tomboyish for him to be in his radar screen, but who was he to complain that she needed him right now? Yes! At last, open acknowledgment about his superior masculinity from a girl. A timid, plain girl not worthy of his attentions—but a member of the fairer sex at least.

"Hey Flaky! Can Disco Bear do something for you? Perhaps a dance lesson, or dinner tonight?"

"Um, not tonight," Flaky excused herself. "Um, I have a message for you."

"Oh, a message for Disco Bear? Disco Bear is happy to hear it, baby!"

"I can't tell it here! Maybe down besides the road," Flaky quaked, her voice barely audible, yet perfectly understandable. "I'm scared! Please come with me, or something bad might happen to us!"

It was only now that Disco Bear noticed that Flaky had recently cried, and she had a look of absolute terror in her face. It was clear from her voice that she was trying to keep herself from crying. "Is there anything wrong, Flaky?"

"Yes! Please! Just follow me! I can't tell it here!" she then went down the stairs, perfectly aware of what was to happen next.

The middle aged fan of disco followed Flaky. The red porcupine stopped near what appears to be a jeep. Not knowing what this is all about, and curious about what Flaky had to tell, Disco Bear stood besides the jeep.

"Disco Bear will help! Now what is wrong?"

"Disco Bear, I'm so sorry!"

"For what? Disco Bear doesn't think—"

He was cut off when he felt something—a piece of cloth most likely—squeeze on his neck and choke him. A second later, he was kicked on the back and fell to the ground on his stomach. Evil Flippy wrapped the cloth—which was the necktie he wore for this double date—around the Disco Bear's neck a couple more times, then tightened his grip. He pulled hard, and grinned in satisfaction as Disco Bear's head turned purple and his shouts were silenced by the lack of air. His flailing became weaker and weaker as he was deprived of oxygen. After about five minutes, Disco Bear was dead. Just for good measure, Evil Flippy, after removing his tie from Disco Bear's neck and retying it around his own neck, took his bowie knife and slit the throat of the corpse.

Evil Flippy turned to Flaky. "That was great! You had him by the strings! You were even better than I initially thought!" he exclaimed.

Flaky, who went inside the jeep the moment the green bear attacked Disco Bear, buried her face in her hands to avoid witnessing Disco Bear's death. "I'm glad you think so," she replied to the war vet.

Evil Flippy laughed. "My dear Flaky! Don't be so glum! Nobody will blame you when this is over! They'll all blame me anyway for whatever you did tonight! Now let's go to our next victim!"

"I can't help it," Flaky replied. "They're my friends."

"So who do you think should be next?" Flippy asked as he drove his jeep. "There's Lumpy, Toothy, Lifty, Shifty—the list is endless!"

"I don't think I should tell you who to kill next," Flaky replied. "It would be interference and I promised never to interfere!"

"I think the problem solved itself!" Flippy triumphantly said. "Look!"

Flaky could see in the distance a green squirrel facing a candy store. "Doesn't Nutty know that the candy store is closed at this hour?" Flaky remarked to no one in particular.

"I don't think he cares if it's closed or not," Evil Flippy replied. "That crazy squirrel just wants sweets. And that gives me an idea. Are you listening, Flaky?"

"Yes."

"Good. He wants candy? I'll give him candy," Flippy exclaimed. He took a bag of candy in his glove compartment and tossed it to Flaky. "Give that to him."

"You're giving Nutty candy?"

"Not just any candy. That's actually cyanide—laced with candy and sweeteners to make the unsuspecting fool think it's really candy!" Evil Flippy replied.

* * *

Nutty was disappointed to arrive at the candy store just after it closed. He usually does not go out at this time of night, but he had run out of candy, and he hoped to be able to reach the store just before it closed. Sadly, his erratic driving caused him to be a few minutes late.

He moaned pathetically as the candy is so near—just beyond the glass window—yet so far away. He had the money he needed, yet it was useless until the store opened in the morning. It seems to him that he would be going—horror of horrors!—without candy for the night. He could always break-in, but it was more trouble than it was worth.

He was so focused on the candy on the store that he bare noticed that a jeep had parked on the road adjacent to the store. "Hey Nutty!" the green squirrel heard.

He screamed and turned, and was relieved that it was Flaky. "Oh Flaky, you frightened me!"

"Um, Nn-n-n-n-nutty, heh-h-h-he-ee-eers a b-b-b-b-b-bag of candy," Flaky stuttered from the jeep. She gave a bag with the word "candy" written on it.

"CANDY!!!" Nutty shouted. He immediately grabbed the bag.

"Um Nutty! Don't eat it," Flaky advised, with worry and anguish clearly seen in her face. "You might sick! You should think about your health. Please! Don't eat it! I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Advice duly noted!" Nutty irritatingly replied. "But you gave it to me, and I'll eat it when I want to! And I'll eat it now!"

"No Nutty!" Flaky shouted, but it was too late. With one big gulp, Nutty ate all the "candy." After a few seconds, Nutty began to twitch uncontrollably, he foamed at the mouth, his muscles stiffened, and he fell to the ground. The cyanide took only half a minute to kill him.

"That was great acting, Flaky!" Evil Flippy chuckled besides her as they continued their drive.

"I wasn't acting, I really was—"

"I know. It only made the ruse more effective. By saying to Nutty not to eat what he thinks is candy, you only made him more determined to eat the cyanide! He thought you were trying to stop him from eating the candy you gave him!"

"You aren't mad at me for trying to warn him?" asked the porcupine.

"In any other circumstance, I would be," said the bear, "but nothing will deter that squirrel once you gave him the candy. He ate a bag of cement thinking it was sugar, remember? You gave the cyanide, and everything fell into place."

"Now what?" Flaky ventured, dropping the subject.

"The night is young, and I'm hungry. Flaky, what is your favorite restaurant?"

The red porcupine was caught off guard by what Evil Flippy asked. "My favorite restaurant? What do you mean?"

"My dear Flaky! I don't always talk about death and destruction!" Evil Flippy laughed. "I mean exactly what I seem to mean. What restaurant here in Happy Tree Town is your favorite?"

"Well, lately I wanted to eat at the Happy Ritz," Flaky replied. "It's expensive, and I don't think Flippy could afford to take me there."

"The most expensive restaurant in town? You've got some taste! If Flippy is poor or middle class, he'd bankrupt himself eating a single meal in that place!" Evil Flippy remarked.

* * *

Flaky was amazed as they stood before the Happy Ritz Restaurant. "You're going to take us at Ritz? But how can you even afford the high prices? I mean, the cost of a bowl of soup is more than what I earn in a year!"

"You don't know everything about Flippy, do you? Well, for your information, he can easily afford to eat in this place, even if he ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all his snacks for the rest of his life in Ritz," Evil Flippy replied. "And who says I'll pay for it?"

* * *

Toothy had an easy job. Working as a waiter at the Happy Ritz Restaurant meant that he would at most serve five or six set of customers in a single night. Yet, the price of the food, plus the cost of reservations, meant that those few customers that patronize the restaurant effectively maintained the Happy Ritz in the green. Tonight, there were no customers in the restaurant and Toothy was bored waiting at the waiter's station. He was talking with Lumpy, who was the manager for that night.

"Another empty night," Toothy yawned. "No customers! No tips! I should've called in sick."

"I see what you mean," Lumpy replied. "At least you could simply loaf around doing nothing. I have to finish these papers for tomorrow's report."

"I thought you finished that yesterday," asked Toothy.

"Yes. But that was only the restaurant report. I've got to finish the museum report tonight," Lumpy replied. "I called Sniffles and Petunia, but both seemed to have died, so I have to do everything. Remember, this is only a night job. During the day, I work at the museum."

"Sniffles and Petunia died? I bet it had something to do with his inventions."

They were interrupted, to their delight, by the arrival of two new customers. "Customers!" Lumpy yelped. "Quick!"

"It's Flippy and Flaky!" Toothy exclaimed. "I thought they couldn't afford this place!"

"Never mind! You're the waiter! Go wait on them!"

Toothy enthusiastically went to the table where the arrivals sat. "Good evening. Welcome to the Happy Ritz Restaurant. I am Toothy, your waiter, and I'm at your service. Here's the menu," Toothy greeted. "Okay, Flaky, Flippy, what will it be? And by the way, congratulations! I didn't know you can afford Ritz!"

"Prompt service!" Flippy remarked as he took the menu from Toothy. "Impressive!"

Toothy froze as he heard Flippy's voice. He looked at Flippy's eye, and he knew that he was dealing with Evil Flippy! "Y-y-y-y-you are Evil F-f-f-f-flippy!" he stuttered.

Evil Flippy looked at him. "Yes, I am Evil Flippy. But you can call me just plain old Flippy."

Toothy was silent as he could not believe that Evil Flippy would take Flaky out to dinner.

"You don't believe I'm Evil Flippy? That I'm the Flippy you all know and love?" Evil Flippy asked. "You want more proof that I'm Evil Flippy?"

Toothy didn't say anything but simply nodded.

"Very well. Here's your proof," Flippy said as he took the fork in the table, and quickly stabbed the poor waiter in the right eye. He twisted it, and yanked the eye off its socket. He held the eye on his left palm.

"Flippy!" Flaky gasped. "You didn't have to do that! That's too much!"

"You didn't say anything when I killed Disco Bear and Petunia, yet I took his eye, and you object? You have got some sense of proportion!"

Toothy screamed and cried at the pain. Both his hands are now covering his now empty right eye socket.

"Now do you believe that I'm Evil Flippy? Good. Now go and fix yourself. After five minutes, waiter, I want you here, and taking our orders! Go!" Flippy ordered.

Toothy was only too willing to go to Lumpy's to have his eye treated. There was no doctor around, but Lumpy had once been an eye doctor, and so he would have to do.

"What happened!" Lumpy shouted as he saw the one-eyed Toothy run into his office.

"Evil Flippy! He took my eye!" Toothy shouted. He was crying as the pain throbbed in his head. "He told me to fix myself and be ready to take orders after five minutes!"

Lumpy was so mesmerized by the money he might receive from Flippy that he decided to retain Toothy in Flippy's service for the night. "I'll fix you up. After that, go back there and take their orders. Flippy has got to have lots of money!"

"But I'm scared!"

"I don't care! If you serve him, it means more money for Ritz!" Lumpy said as he treated the injury.

Toothy bitterly remembered the time when Lumpy killed him with chattering teeth so he can sell his body parts at his toy store. He had no doubt that when it comes to money, Lumpy could be very selfish—so selfish, in fact, as to sacrifice the lives of others for monetary gain.

"There! You're as good as new!" Lumpy exclaimed as he wrapped the final bandages around his head. "Now go out there and do your job!"

Toothy was scared, and tears were coming out of his good eye as he approached Flippy and Flaky. He was surprised when he saw not only Flippy and Flaky, but also Cuddles and Giggles. But the most perplexing thing to Toothy is that both were chained to their chairs.

"What is your order, sir?" asked Toothy.

"Flaky, you go first. And don't tell me you're not hungry. I know that you haven't eaten since morning," Evil Flippy said.

Flaky at first hesitated, and then ordered her favourite dish. Cuddles and Giggles, still afraid, also gave their orders. Evil Flippy was the last to order.

Toothy quickly wrote their orders. "Is there anything else," the beaver asked. He was glad when all shook their heads. He quickly went and forwarded the order to the kitchen. He was glad to be away from Flippy. He was worried for his friends, but was too scared to act.

He stood in a corner, next to the kitchen door, in a place where he can be easily seen by Flippy and company, and he in turn could see them. He was glad when the manager joined him.

"May I see their order?" asked Lumpy.

"Yes, Lumpy, I mean sir," Toothy replied as he handed the paper.

"Toothy, Toothy!" Lumpy chided. "Outside of work, we're the best of friends. You can call me Lumpy, and I can call you Toothy. But when at work, I'm the boss and you're the lowly employee. You call me sir, or Mr. Lumpy, got it? Now let's see that. Ah! Seven hundred and fifty dollars! Never knew they can afford a dinner like that! Good job. It was well worth your eye!"

"My eye is only worth seven hundred fifty dollars?" Toothy hissed, but in a respectful way.

"Don't fret too much! You know that it'll come back the next time you die. And I could always put a glass eye! I am an eye doctor and surgeon after all!"

"I think I'll just wait for death," Toothy replied. He shuddered as he remembered the time Lumpy mistakenly put a jawbreaker in his empty eye socket instead of a glass eye. It ended in disaster as Nutty killed him by accident while trying to get the jawbreaker. "Don't you think it's strange that Evil Flippy would, well, be eating dinner not only with Flaky, but also with Giggles and Cuddles?"

"And not only eating with them, he's having an ordinary conversation too!" Lumpy gasped as he saw Cuddles, with the fear he had seen earlier, if not gone, then at least temporarily submerged.

"Cuddles is sucking up to Evil Flippy," Toothy noticed. "Listen. He's saying how great a night this is turning out to be, and that Flippy only made it better."

"Cuddles is desperate if he's saying all of this!" Lumpy added. "Now, he's even saying that Evil Flippy should've asked if he wanted a double date with them, and that there's no need to knock them out and tie them up. That rabbit is either an idiot, or a genius."

The two continued to directly and indiscreetly listen. "Flaky is too afraid to say anything," Toothy observed. "I didn't hear her say a thing. And Giggles is the same."

"But what is surprising," Lumpy commented, "is that Evil Flippy would put up with Cuddles' babble. He even replies to him politely! They're talking as if they're old friends! Are you sure that's Evil Flippy?"

"Look at my eye, sir!" Toothy pointed out. "And normal Flippy would have released Cuddles and Giggles!"

"Looks like the food's ready," Lumpy said as he smelled the food. "Go to the kitchen and see if it's finished."

Toothy emerged after a few minutes pushing a cart with three huge trays on it. He went to where Evil Flippy and company were seated.

"Y-y-y-y-you're food is ready, sir!" Toothy shook as he spoke to the evil bear.

"It's about time!" Evil Flippy said as Toothy put the food on the table.

"Yum! This food smells good!" Cuddles commented as he saw the food. His mouth is literally watering. "Send my compliments to the chef, Toothy! Wow Flippy. Thanks for the treat! See, this night is getting better and better!"

"Is there anything else you n-n-n-n-n-need?" Toothy asked fearfully.

"Yes—for you to stop the stuttering! Other than that, you may go!" Evil Flippy dismissed Toothy, and the purple beaver scampered away from them towards where Lumpy was.

The two watched Evil Flippy, Cuddles, Giggles and Flaky eat. The boys wolfed down their food as if it was their last meal, while the girls ate slowly and delicately. Cuddles, of course, talked loudly and boisterously with Evil Flippy.

"Cuddles is always the life of the party," Toothy observed. "There never was a boring party when he's around. He never wants to have a quiet dinner—even if Evil Flippy was around!"

"Yes," Lumpy commented. "Cuddles may have bitten off more than he can chew."

* * *

After an hour, when they finished their dinner…

"Waiter!" Evil Flippy shouted.

Toothy nervously approached Evil Flippy. "Y-y-y-y-yes?" he again stuttered.

"Can you please call the manager?" Evil Flippy asked.

"Yes sir!" he quickly replied.

Lumpy could only see dollar signs as he went with Toothy to Evil Flippy. "I hope you had a grand time in our restaurant! As your bill—" Lumpy exclaimed as he took a piece of paper from his pocket.

"The bill?" Evil Flippy asked. Then, with a swift movement, he took the dinner knife and stabbed Toothy in the left eye. This time, the bear went for the kill. The knife pierced the eye, went through the brain, and exited on the back of the head. It was so fast that Toothy didn't have time to scream. He merely slumped to the floor—dead—and his blood spilled across the restaurant floor. "So how much do I have to pay?"

Lumpy got the message as he stared at Toothy's dead body. "Bill? Oh no! This one's on the house! Yeah! You don't have to pay anything! Your presence is enough for the meal you ate!" he hurriedly said as he tore the bill. His love of his own life was greater than his love of money, after all.

"Thank you. For that, I won't kill you," Evil Flippy snarled. He suddenly grabbed both of the moose's antlers with both his hands, and with a painful snap, broke it off his head.

Lumpy howled in pain and began running around as he felt for his antler stubs. "I told you I won't kill you," Evil Flippy chuckled as he threw the now detached antlers to the floor. He looked at his companions. "I think we better go."

"You killed Toothy! Why did you kill Toothy?" Cuddles asked, shocked.

"It's because it's what I do. I'm Evil Flippy," the bear coldly replied. "Do you object?"

"No. Not at all! He'll be back tomorrow, and with his eye back," the yellow rabbit replied, earning a disgusting glare from Giggles. "If you want to kill anybody, go ahead!"

Evil Flippy got and tied Cuddles and Giggles' hands behind them with rope. He was about to gag them when Cuddles objected. "Um. No need to do that. We won't scream! We promise. Right, Giggles?"

Giggles merely glared at Cuddles.

"Very well. But if you ruin any of my fun tonight, then you know what'll happen," Evil Flippy replied. He tossed the key of the chain to the porcupine. "Flaky, could you please put them in the jeep? I need to take care of some business."

Flaky nodded as Flippy disappeared. She began unchaining the two, but did not remove the rope binding their hands behind them.

"Flaky, now's your chance!" Giggles said. "The key is in your hands. We can all escape while he's not here!"

Flaky just looked at the floor. "Sorry. I can't."

Giggles was puzzled. "Why not?"

"I just can't! I can't! I gave my word!"

"Look, we know Flippy's forcing—"

Flaky interrupted. "He's not forcing me. I'm doing this on my own free will," Flaky choked. "I have an obligation, and I can't back out of it."

"What obligation? What is going on here?" Giggles demanded.

"You'll always be my friend, Giggles, but I can't tell you right now," Flaky replied as she unchained the two from their chairs. But she took another rope and further bound their upper bodies and untied their feet.

"Giggles," Cuddles interrupted as Flaky escorted them to the jeep. "Let's not force her. Even if she freed us, I'm sure Evil Flippy is lurking around the corner waiting for such a move. No. If we try to escape, all of us would die. But if we keep still, maybe he won't kill us."

Giggles turned angrily to Cuddles. "And you!! You bastard! What were you thinking?" Giggles scolded Cuddles. "That it's okay to kill Toothy? First, you say this is a great night, then you say we'd had fun! Are you crazy?"

"Look, I don't want to die!" Cuddles replied. "I want to live! And sucking up to him is the best way to make sure we don't die! Besides, look at Flaky! Flippy does not kill her anymore once he got to know her. Maybe, if we try to be friends with Evil Flippy, he won't kill us anymore. Or if not, the next time he goes on a rampage, he'll at least spare us!"

"You're naïve! Don't you see? He might not kill Flaky, but we're as good as dead! We don't have anything that matter to him!" Giggles hissed as Flaky opened the door of the jeep. "Look! He already killed Petunia, Sniffles, Pop, Cub, Russell, Disco Bear, Nutty, and Toothy! What makes you think we won't be next?"

"Look, I think I'm on to something here," Cuddles replied as they entered the back part of the jeep. "You may be right, but I can also be correct about Evil Flippy. Tell you what. If you're right, and Evil Flippy killed us tonight, then I'd believe and do what you say concerning Flippy."

"But if he didn't kill us tonight?" asked Giggles as Flaky retied Cuddles' feet.

"Then you have to believe me, and follow my lead when it comes to Evil Flippy! No exceptions! We have to make Evil Flippy our friend!" Cuddles replied. "What do you think?"

Giggles thought about it as Flaky tied her feet. It would settle their argument, and would prevent fights between them over Evil Flippy. Besides, she can easily provoke Evil Flippy to kill both of them if she decides that she really wanted to have her way. "Okay. Deal."

Flaky put the seatbelts over both of them before going to the front seat to wait for Flippy.

"So Flaky, why did Evil Flippy take you on a date instead of the usual rampage?" asked Giggles.

"Well, he said that he wants to know if I'm acceptable to him," Flaky replied.

"And do you think you are?" asked Giggles.

"I think so," Flaky replied, thinking about the contract. "I don't think he'd go to all this trouble if I'm not."

Evil Flippy arrived after an absence of about twenty minutes carrying a heavy bag. "Very good Flaky," the bear complemented as he inspected the bonds of the two prisoners. "You've exceeded my expectations! And here I was expecting you to escape with them. I was wrong about you. I may make something out of you yet!"

"Hey Flippy!" Cuddles called. "Giggles here said that she'd warn your next victim by screaming. I think you better gag her so that she won't interfere."

"Cuddles, I never said such—" Giggles shouted with indignation, but was cut off by Evil Flippy who stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth and sealed it with duct tape.

"I'm beginning to think you're up to something," Evil Flippy said to Cuddles. "But thanks for the warning."

"Sorry Giggles," Cuddles whispered to her. "I can't have you say anything, or do anything, that might get us killed, just so you'd have your way."

Giggles glared at the rabbit and looked away.

"What's next?" asked Flaky.

"Someone would die," Evil Flippy replied.

"So Flippy," Cuddles began. "After all of this is over, will you kill us? I mean, I know you won't kill Flaky, but how about Giggles and I?"

"It depends. If I don't kill enough tonight, you two would die. But if I'm satisfied with the amount of death I've caused, then I'll let you live."

"Come on, Flippy! I did you a favor by telling on Giggles' plan to scream! You could at least return the favor!" Cuddles replied. "Or at least tell us what we can do to avoid being killed."

"Well, you're right. I'd be ungrateful if I didn't try to repay you. There is something, but I don't think you'd bite," Evil Flippy replied.

"What! Tell me!" Cuddles insisted.

"Okay. I won't kill you two, if, you give me two names of your close friends, who are not dead, and is not Splendid. Those two will be the next to die," Evil Flippy said.

"Oh, is that all? Then I'd say Shifty and Lifty," Cuddles said without hesitation.

"And here I was thinking that you'd say something like 'I'd rather die than betray my friends' or such nonsense, and I'd have to kill you. Instead, you act craven towards your friends just to save your own skin. Still, I gave my word that I won't kill you tonight, so I won't. And I'm beginning to think, Cuddles, that you're not too bad of a fellow to hang around with! So, it's those two raccoons."

Giggles glared at Cuddes, not believing he would do such a thing. She was indignant, but she can do nothing. Flaky too was surprised by Cuddles' actions. Yet she was comforted by the idea that she wasn't the only one who was doing Evil Flippy's bidding, and that not all of her friends would condemn her actions that night.

End of chapter 3

Notes

Bear talking in the third person I took from Disco Stu from the _Simpsons_. Just watch Disco Stu and imagine Dis

2. Nutty eating a bag of cement, mistaking it for sugar, is from _Concrete Solution._

3. Lumpy could be selfish when it comes to money. In _We're Scrooged_, he killed Toothy just to get his body parts so he can sell it. His greed for money is also shown when he was ringmaster in _Mime to Five._

3. Lumpy did serve as an eye doctor for Toothy once. In _Chew Said a Mouthful,_ he in fact tried to put a glass eye on Toothy, but mistakenly put on a jawbreaker instead.

4. Lumpy also can be quite bossy, as shown by _Mime to Five_, _See What Develops,_ and _A Change of Heart_.

To** Laurentius Berry**, thanks for the review. Well, sorry for the delay. I'm busy right now, and at best, I can only update once a week. But I'll try my best to update regularly. The worst that could happen is an update once every two weeks.

Yup! I made it so that Flaky would want Flippy so much that she would do anything to have him. As to your next question, it was answered in this chapter. I don't think Flaky would do as Evil Flippy says, no matter what, if it would involve permanent death.

As for Evil Flippy's reasons? Well, they will be revealed. What chapter? Well, just wait.

If Evil Flippy is really Flippy, then it would be a subtle and almost perfect plan to make Flaky totally submissive towards Flippy. Nobody would blame Flippy of course, as the onus would be on the evil side. Note that she, among all the HTF characters, have the weakest will.

To **Scarlet Pikachu, **thanks. Yes, I decided to give him the sophisticated villain type of dialogue. As for the grammar mistakes, I apologize. I always proof read all my stories at least three times, but sometimes, it slips and I only notice until someone else points it out to me.

Flaky hasn't actually signed. The words signed is actually printed, and won't be valid until it was signed in Flaky's own handwriting. Yes, it is actually what it would look like if it was signed.

The contract is a clever piece of instrument by which Evil Flippy would… well, it'll be revealed in future chapters.

As for Sniffles/Petunia, it actually grew out of my last story, _New Troubles._ I actually began that story without actually planning on the couple, but it just happened. Anyway, nothing much would happen until the very end, for as you see, Sniffles is a bit thick when it comes to romance.


	4. Violence and Movies

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter 4**

**Violence and Movies**

Shifty and Lifty were driving their van through the dark streets of Happy Tree Town. They were awash with cash, having recently sold some of their stolen items to unsuspecting fools. And they have robbed the bank without anyone suspecting.

"Tonight is the night that can't get any better!" Shifty proclaimed as he drove. "Two million dollars from the bank! Millions of dollars worth of priceless junk in the museum! Oh did I say junk? I meant artifacts!"

"Yeah. I don't know what makes these things so valuable! They're rubbish! But they're willing to pay big for it!" Lifty commented.

Something caught their eye as they drove. "Look! It's a dame with lots of jewelry!" Shifty shouted as he hit the breaks.

Lifty look to where Shifty was pointing. "Yeah! Gold! Pure gold! Necklaces, bracelets, a diamond ring, a silver tiara studded with diamonds, a gold belt, a purse with gold and silver lining! Wow! It must be worth millions!"

"That's Flaky," Shifty pointed out. "How can she afford it? And she's walking alone! At night! In the dark!"

"Yes! A jackpot! A sweet easy jackpot! It can't get any better than this!" Lifty added. "It would be like taking candy from a baby!"

They parked their van, and quickly caught up with Flaky. "What's a nice broad like you doing in this part of town all alone?" Shifty asked with a grin as he caught up with her.

"Yeah! With all those jewels too! I never knew you were loaded!" Lifty said as he stared at the things Flaky was wearing. He noticed that in addition to the things he observed at the van, she was wearing diamond studded shoes, was wearing a diamond and silver pendant with a golden chain, was holding in her hand a silver sceptre with a giant diamond on its end, earrings with the finest pearls they have ever seen, and more rings. In fact, each of her fingers has a diamond ring. It made his mouth water. "It would be dangerous to walk here, especially at this hour, without an escort."

"Maybe you should hand them over to someone for safekeeping!" Shifty added. "I think we'll do the job. What do you think, Lifty?"

"Yes. We promise we'll take care of all your jewels for you!" Lifty concurred. "Now hand over the jewels!"

"No. Let's take her to the van and strip her there!" Shifty suggested. "That way, we can rob her without any witnesses!"

"You heard him!" Lifty sneered as he shoved Flaky. "Get to the van!"

Flaky had no choice but to comply. Lifty first went to the back of the van, followed by Flaky, and finally Shifty. "Now," Shifty instructed. "Remove all you jewelry and put it in the tray be—"

He was cut off when he was hit in the back of the head by a heavy rock. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor on his stomach. Evil Flippy dropped the rock and took a hammer lying on the floor of the van, and used it to hit Shifty's head. The raccoon gave a cry of pain as his head was smashed and pieces of brain and skull were scattered all over the van.

Lifty backed away, but Evil Flippy was too quick. Using a screwdriver he found in the vehicle, he used it to stab him in the head through the right ear. It came out the other ear, with pieces of brain coming out with it. He twisted the screwdriver until a large hole had been formed in his temple.

Both brothers were dead. Evil Flippy chuckled as he looked at the lifeless forms of the two raccoons. He himself was covered with blood, brain matter, flesh, and bone fragments.

He quickly ordered Flaky back to his jeep. Flaky nodded, but before leaving, she began to take off the jewelry she had been wearing for the trap. "Um Flippy, where shall I put these?" she asked.

"Oh I don't care," Evil Flippy replied as he examined the van. "It's yours, anyway!"

"Mine! But I can't accept! These are too expensive! It must be worth millions!"

"Oh Flippy has more of those where that came from," Evil Flippy replied. "I'm surprised he hasn't told you. He has treasure that boggles the imagination of most men. He, or rather, I, looted it during the war. It was the Tiger General's treasure if you must know. The only reason he lives in that house of his and not in a palace is because he is a cheapskate. And because we both believe that his wealth should be kept a secret. Imagine the ruckus that it could cause if it was public knowledge!"

"Then why are you telling me this? Why?" Flaky asked. "And why are you giving me these? All of these?"

"First of all, you have given me sufficient reason to trust you. Yes, you heard me right. You've earned my trust," Evil Flippy replied.

"Trust? How do you know I won't betray you?" asked Flaky.

"It's not like you. And any doubt about it was erased at the Ritz," Evil Flippy began. "You see, when I left you with Giggles and Cuddles with the key to their chains, it was actually a test. I gave you enough time, and opportunity, to free them, and to escape. And yet you followed my instructions to the letter. And you won't tell anyone else about Flippy's treasure, will you?"

"No."

"Good. Don't worry. You'll marry Flippy soon enough, and it would be yours as well as Flippy's," Evil Flippy replied. "So I'm telling you to keep it. You look good wearing jewelry."

"Thank you. But why? I'm confused. Telling me to help kill the others I can understand," Flaky asked, confused. "But why did you treat me at my favourite restaurant, and why give me these jewels? I mean, it's not like you. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't do nice things at all."

"I take it you like those stones?"

"They're beautiful," Flaky conceded.

"I'll tell you when this date is over," Evil Flippy replied. "Right now, I think we better go back to the jeep."

Flaky had removed her new jewels and placed it on a bag she found on the raccoon's van. Slinging it on her shoulder, she followed the bear to the jeep.

Evil Flippy was chuckling. Everything is going according to plan, he mused. Even better. He had Flaky wrapped around his finger.

* * *

To the outsider, the events of the night might be a bit confusing. It's trying to look at a picture using only a few pieces of a puzzle. Every action of the evil bear generated new questions, and it looked like it's something that even the most brilliant brain would have a hard time solving.

Viewed from Evil Flippy's perspective, however, things become clearer and simpler. He recalled a time when such a thing as a woodpecker, or a backfire from an engine would cause him to flip. Flippy cannot resist. He'd always remember the war, and when he did, he would flip. Evil Flippy fondly remembered those days. He believed himself to be in control.

It did not last. Flaky intruded into his world. At first, nothing changed—as long as Flaky is just another friend—another Cuddles, another Toothy, another Giggles—to kill and maim. In fact, he killed her several times. But Evil Flippy has observed a weakening of his influence, and consequently his strength, ever since Flippy began courting Flaky.

It started during Flippy's birthday party. There were two events that could have flipped Flippy—the initial surprise itself, and the sight of a cake knife—but didn't. Only the third one—the popping of balloons—finally brought Evil Flippy out. The night ended satisfactorily to Evil Flippy, but it revealed a couple of disturbing things. First, Flippy gained the ability to resist being flipped, and two, he did not kill Flaky. Flippy courted Flaky in earnest after that, and Evil Flippy panicked. His control over Flippy is slipping away. Good Flippy is gaining strength at Evil Flippy's expense, and Evil Flippy knew that the strength was coming from Flaky.

Then it happened. The incident of the helicopter chase with Lumpy—and his death with Cuddles—was the first time that good Flippy was able to wrest control from Evil while flipped. Previously, good Flippy only returned when there were no more victims in the immediate vicinity, or at Evil Flippy's sufferance. Now, he had gained the power to return. And it did not matter that good Flippy did not use it subsequently. It only matters that—to Evil's perspective—he can if he only knew how.

It was followed by the catastrophe. Good Flippy worked at Lumpy's carnival, and sure enough, he flipped. Yet it was hollow. He was able to kill some but not all of the people in the vicinity. Worse was that Flaky was able to snap him out of being flipped merely by screaming. Flaky advised good Flippy to get help, and Lumpy the psychiatrist was able to provide it—temporarily. Then, Evil Flippy decided to take matters into his own hands.

Evil Flippy attacked good Flippy—his goal is nothing less than to snuff out good Flippy's consciousness forever and take over his body. The intense mental battle surprised Evil Flippy. Good Flippy was shockingly strong. And he was defeated. And from that day on, though Evil Flippy remained—he was relegated into an inferior position in Flippy's psyche.

Good Flippy's flip-outs became less frequent, and Evil Flippy found his opportunities for murder much circumscribed. He knew it was Flaky's fault. Flaky somehow gave strength to Flippy. When he was in control, Evil Flippy found out that no matter what, he simply could not kill Flaky. And he found out to his dismay that the budding relationship is heading towards its ultimate consummation. Evil Flippy tried—and failed—to break them apart. He now knew that Flaky was good Flippy's soul mate, and that trying to stop them was like trying to stop an onrushing truck with just your hands—it was useless.

So he had to adapt. Or he would be the one lost forever to irrelevance. If you cannot stop the onrushing truck, then it is would be wise to drive it and direct it at his pleasure and to his purpose. He knew he could not stop Flippy and Flaky from being with each other—perhaps he could play the role of matchmaker, to his advantage? He also knows that Flippy and Flaky, despite their obvious closeness, has not yet declared their love for one another. It is only a matter of time, naturally, but it gave Evil Flippy an advantage. Another advantage is that both Good Flippy and Flaky believed that Evil Flippy could and would ruin their relationship, and that he might one day do something that would separate them forever.

He would shepherd their union—and gain control of the situation once more. Evil Flippy would first gain control of Flaky by promising to deliver what in Evil Flippy's mind is inevitable—happiness with Good Flippy. He would then use Flaky to gain control of Good Flippy, if that is possible. If not, he would, at least, draw strength from Flaky, and it would arrest his decline vis-à-vis Good Flippy. And he would have a follower who would do his every whim.

Yes, he would ride the relationship, direct it, and make it his tool, instead of making it his enemy and bring about his own irrelevance.

Flippy and Flaky would be together—but at Evil Flippy's terms.

* * *

"So where do we go next?" asked Flaky when they were on the jeep. She is still fearful, but a little less than before.

"Only Mime and Cro-Marmot are left on the list," Evil Flippy remarked. "We have enough time to kill them both. We can do some thing else before that. So where do you want to go?"

"You're asking me?" Flaky asked Flippy. "Well, I don't really don't know. How about you Cuddles? Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?"

"I would say I'd like to be untied," the bound yellow rabbit remarked. "But since it can't happen, how about we go to the drive-in theater and watch a movie?"

"That's a nice idea," Flaky remarked, glancing at Evil Flippy. Evil Flippy did not react, so she decided to ask Giggles. "Do you think it's a good idea?" she would have asked more of Giggles, but she was gagged, and so she could only nod or shake her head.

Giggles was getting bored. Being bound and gagged is boring once the terror had subsided. She nodded, as it would relieve her of her tediousness of just sitting there.

Flaky turned to Evil Flippy. "I guess we should go to the drive-in theater."

"Okay. By the way, what's your favorite movie?" Evil Flippy asked.

"Mine is the _Daredevil!_ Because I'm just like him!!" Cuddles interjected.

"Nobody's asking you," Evil Flippy growled at Cuddles. "Flaky, answer the question!"

"Well, I've always wanted to watch _Love Conquers All_," the porcupine replied.

"Ha! Never thought of you as someone who likes to watch chick flicks!" the bear replied.

Cuddles groaned. "Giggles made me watch that movie a million times! Could we watch something else? Watching paint dry would be more exciting than watching that movie!"

* * *

Mime was working at the drive-in theater that night. Basically, his job was to bring the speaker to the customer's car. It was a pleasant job, and one that did not require vocal skills. Plus, that night, they're playing _The Silent Guy_, a movie about the struggles of a mime artist. He was eating a bag of peanuts at the concession stand when he saw a military jeep enter. He knew it was Flippy's. A second later, he saw Flippy on the wheel with Flaky besides him. Mime then knew that everything was all right. Evil Flippy wouldn't be on the wheel besides Flaky, would he? And nothing in the movie would trigger any flashbacks.

Mime grabbed a speaker from the projection booth and rode his unicycle towards the new arrivals. Knocking on the window of the jeep, he smiled and waved at his friends. It was only when the car window was down that his smile vanished. It was Evil Flippy, as he recognized the eyes and the teeth of the doppelganger.

"Thank you," Evil Flippy said as he quickly grabbed the speaker with his left hand, and grabbed the deer's antlers with his right. The head of Mime was pulled inside the jeep. He panicked, shouted, and struggled, but since this was Mime, it was a silent struggle.

Chuckling evilly, he saw that deer's neck was straddling the window. He slowly but surely closed the car window. The window edge was sharp, and as it rose, it pressed against the Mime's neck. The bear applied more pressure, and finally the window closed like a guillotine. Mime's head was decapitated with a snap, and popped into Evil Flippy's lap. Quickly opening the window, he tossed the head outside. His suit, as well as the car seat, was drenched in blood.

Flaky, Cuddles, and Giggles watched in silence at the scene. All of them were sorry for poor Mime, but did nothing.

"That was convenient," Evil Flippy remarked. "I never expected him to be here—it saved us a lot of time. Isn't that right, Flaky?"

Flaky could only nod, thankful that she didn't participate in yet another murder.

"Oh look! There's Cro-Marmot at the ice cream booth at the concession stand!" Evil Flippy pointed out. "Who wants ice cream?"

"I do! I do!" shouted Cuddles.

"And I guess Giggles wants one too?" Evil Flippy remarked, turning to the pink chipmunk.

Giggles was still angry at Cuddles and Evil Flippy, but it was an opportunity to get rid of the gag, and ice cream was one of her favorite foods. She nodded.

"And you want one too, right?" the green bear asked Flaky.

"Yes, I want, um, yes, Flippy," she replied.

"Good," Evil Flippy chuckled. "Flaky, here's what I want you to do."

* * *

Cro Marmot was standing, in his block of ice, inside the ice cream parlor of the drive-in theater. He was the odd one out of Happy Tree Town, as he neither talks, nor moves much. Why he was encased in a block of ice was unknown to the others, and he was not about to reveal why. The block of ice keeps him safe from all the freak accidents that plague their town, and he won't let himself be thawed out. Yet he somehow was capable of doing things that he should not have been able to do given his condition.

He was an ice cream vendor, as it keeps his form solid and cool. He usually works in his ice cream truck, but he accepted a request by the owner of the drive-in theater, Lumpy, to work part time in the ice cream parlor. He was standing in the booth when Flaky, with a money bag (complete with dollar sign), entered.

Quickly approaching Cro Marmot, and with a shaking voice, Flaky said, "Um, I want to take four large buckets of ice cream. The most expensive ones please."

Cro-Marmot, despite being encased in ice, somehow was able to get the four buckets and put it in a large plastic bag.

"Thanks," Flaky said as she grabbed the bag. She then put the bag of money on the counter. It was heavy, as Flaky had a difficult time carrying it. Opening it, she revealed a bag full of shiny quarters. "Fifteen dollars, right?" she asked. "Um, the bag has about twenty dollars in quarters, dimes, and nickels. I don't think I could count it all, so keep the change. And if it's not enough, you know where to find me. Well, thanks. Bye."

The red porcupine quickly grabbed the ice cream and ran.

* * *

"Did he see the bomb hidden inside the money bag underneath the coins?" asked Evil Flippy as soon as she was in the jeep.

Flaky shook her head.

"In that case," Evil Flippy laughed as he grabbed a remote inside the glove compartment, and pressed the big red button on it.

The concession stand exploded in a blazing inferno. Cuddles gasped, and Flaky shuddered, as the light from the fire utterly obscured the movie image on the screen. Any doubts about whether Cro-Marmot survived were erased when they saw his burning and severed head flying across the sky like a meteor. The remaining patrons of the theatre quickly left, leaving Evil Flippy and company alone. It rained soon after, snuffing out the fire.

End of Chapter 4

* * *

Notes

First of all, sorry for the long delay. Anyway, here is Chapter 4! And chapter 5 would probably be out no later than next Monday.

1. Shifty and Lifty robbing the museum I got from the same scene from _Gems the Breaks. _

2. Flippy's Birthday Party is of course, taken from the episode _Party Animal_.

3. The incident of the helicopter chase with Lumpy is of course from _Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow_

4. _Double Whammy_ is the episode where Flippy worked at the carnival and he seeks psychiatric help from Lumpy.

5. The episode where Evil Flippy attacks Good Flippy and was defeated is _Autopsy Turvy/ Double Whammy 2_.

To **Laurentius Berry, **about permanent damage, well, what could Evil Flippy do to make Flaky do permanent damage to the others? I agree that emotional damage would be permanent, but, in HTF, it seems that very few things (like Flippy's PTSD) could actually damage their psyche. Evil Flippy's thing is more, as you say, physical violence, and it would not bring any permanent harm. And he doesn't strike me as a fellow that is a lustful and maniacal kind of person who would sexually abuse his victims. And he did promise Flaky that he would not ask or order Flaky to do those kinds of acts.

About the disguise where Evil Flippy was the manifestation of Good Flippy's true desires, it could be argued that it was so during his stint in the war. After all, good Flippy wanted to be a competent soldier, which, initially, he was not. However, I don't think after the war, and when good Flippy was back in Happy Tree Town, that it was so. He is good friends with several of the characters (e.g. Cuddles, Toothy, Petunia) and I don't think it's his real desire to kill them all.

But that suggestion about the real motive of good Flippy is a fascinating one, and one that I might dwell on in later chapters.

The motives of Evil Flippy is revealed in this chapter. I agree that good Flippy would not want Flaky to be submissive in exchange for his love, but what Evil Flippy wanted is another matter altogether. As for good Flippy, if he knew about the deal Flaky made with Evil Flippy, well, I won't spoil what would happen, or if he would even know. I imagine that Flaky would not want good Flippy to know about it.

I think that his hating her for her 'spinelessness' is just a rationalization. He simply did not like Flaky for interfering with his plans. If it was Petunia, he would hate her for her OCD, if it was Giggles, for her being too girly, etc. But what if Flaky did not interfere, or helped him instead?

As for too much killing, well, this is Happy Tree Friends. Killing, maiming, is par on course for any HTF story, I believe, because it is what distinguishes it from the other cartoons. HTF without killing or serious injuries, well, doesn't sound like HTF at all, but just a cartoon like any other.

Of course, it's how the violence is handled that makes each story different. In some stories, the violence is random, and comes out of the blue, and has no effect whatever to the main plot. In some, the main plot causes the violence and death, but would have no effects, while in some, the death and violence would be random, but would itself drive the plot forward. In this story, the violence is the result of the plot. For example, I cannot imagine any Evil Flippy story without him killing violently, or at least trying to, kill someone, while he is in control. For example, Evil Flippy treating Flaky to dinner and to the movies or being a gentlemen may be a stretch to believe, but him killing someone deliberately while doing so would make it more believable, and more in character. And the more characters he kills, the more I feel that he is like the Evil Flippy of the creators.

And the next chapter, I guarantee, would have more of the psychology between Evil Flippy, good Flippy, and Flaky.

As for the mammoth reviews, I like it. It gives me more to think about in this story.

To **HappyTreeFan, **thanks!


	5. Word of Honor

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter V**

**Word of Honor**

"That was a beautiful explosion!" Evil Flippy remarked. "Now, let's eat ice cream!" he said as he gave one of the bucket to Flaky, another to Giggles, and another to Cuddles. He chained Cuddles and Giggles to the back seat, and untied Cuddles hands.

"Cro Marmot is dead. That's the last of them," Evil Flippy remarked. "So I think it's safe to remove Giggles' gag, don't you think? After all, how could she eat with tape on her mouth?"

Cuddles panicked. He feared that Giggles might say something that would get them killed. Or worse—she would tell Flippy that Cuddles had been lying when he told him about Giggles' plan to warn his victims, and that his promise not to kill them had been based on a lie. Or that Giggles would insult Evil Flippy or do something they'll regret. He knew what he had to do. He could only hope that Giggles wound understand and forgive him.

"Um, well, I think you better leave her gagged," he suggested. "After all, she's angry about the murders you've committed tonight, and she'll scream her head off and try to make your life miserable, Flippy."

Flaky looked at Cuddles with disapproval. "That's very cruel of you," Flaky chided. "Giggles, you wouldn't scream, or shout, so say anything that would get you killed."

Giggles shook her head.

Evil Flippy chuckled. "You're not trying to break-up with Giggles, are you, Cuddles? Anyway, she's your girlfriend, so I'll have to defer to you on that matter."

Flaky knew better than to argue with the bear.

"Here's the key to their chains," Evil Flippy said to Flaky. "I'll be back in a minute. Guard them."

With Flippy gone, Flaky decided to chide his friend for his treatment of Giggles.

"Cuddles, you're my dear friend, so please don't take this the wrong way. Your behaviour towards Giggles is deplorable! Aren't you ashamed? I know you're better than this!"

Cuddles looked at Flaky, and at Giggles, and he sighed. "I only wanted to live! Is that too much to ask for? I'm afraid that Giggles might say something that would get us both killed. But I also wanted to get Evil Flippy's favour, like you did. I envy you, Flaky, because you have a get out of jail card with Evil Flippy. The rest of us don't, and we're sick of getting killed by Evil Flippy. Maybe if I tried to become friends with him, I could at least save Giggles and I? Giggles promised that if Flippy didn't kill us tonight, then she would support me in making Evil Flippy friends with us. But you know that already."

"But that doesn't excuse—" Flaky began, but was interrupted.

"Look, the screen changed! Look, it's your favourite movie! _Love Conquers All_!" Cuddles groaned. "Oh great! At least Giggles would have something to watch. It's her favourite too, you know."

"Well, enjoy your movie," Evil Flippy said as soon as he arrived. "You know I'll hate it, so be grateful for it."

The movie was the typical love story, and though it enthralled both girls, it bored Evil Flippy and Cuddles. Evil Flippy yawned, but kept awake.

"You're bored too? Good to have company," Cuddles whispered to the war veteran. "At least you haven't seen it. I've seen it more than a thousand times, and let me tell you, it gets worse with each viewing."

"I never should have asked what her favourite movie was. Thing is, you know she's kinda like a tomboy, and I thought she disliked flicks like this," Evil Flippy replied. "I thought she'd like to watch sports films since she likes baseball so much."

"Tell me about it! I never thought she'd like these kinds of movies," Cuddles replied. "So, is this a one shot thing, or are you going to make a habit out of it?"

"What?"

"What I meant was, are you going, I mean you as Evil, on another date with Flaky?"

Evil Flippy was surprised by such a question and by Cuddles' boldness. "Oh this wouldn't be the last. Flaky is such a great help killing all the others! She totally exceeded my expectations! She's everything I ever wanted from an accomplice."

"I mean, aside from killing? I mean, I don't think you'd just kill others, don't you think? You might want to do other stuff, like going to the movies, or eating out, or just plain relaxing in a forest? Like tonight?"

"I don't think it's any of your business," Evil Flippy replied, "but I'll bite. Probably. Yes, yes, to reward her for her cooperation. Like tonight."

"Oh. Okay. So, next time you do that, well, maybe we could get together? I mean, you and Flaky, and Giggles and I, kinda like a second double date? But this time, without the necessity of tying and gagging us?"

"Maybe not," he replied.

"Please! I promise we'll have a great time! I mean, killing aside, this has been a great time!" Cuddles pleaded.

"Okay, just shut up! Geez, I'm already starting to regret letting you live!" Flippy replied. "But you have to promise me one thing."

"Anything!"

"You know that Flaky helped me murder several of your friends, right? And she might have told you why. But as far as you and Giggles are concerned, if anybody else asks, then she did it because I've forced her to, okay? That way, she won't lose any of her friendships with any of her friends, and she won't lose their trust."

"But why are you concerned about that?"

"You really are pushing your luck, Cuddles," Evil Flippy remarked. "But if you want to know, then I suggest we go outside." He unchained and untied Cuddles from the chair, and the two went outside. The two went to a place where they're sure they won't be heard.

"You want to know why? Two things. First, she won't be of any help to me if the others are suspicious of her. They have to remain her friends and they have to believe in her. She can easily set them up to be killed that way. Second, she's going to be my wife in the future, whether I like it or not, and I won't be married to somebody who's an outcast! Plus, good Flippy would be angry at Flaky, and I would not let it happen. Nobody's good enough for Flippy but Flaky, and I'll kill anybody that stands in their way."

"Boy, you really like Flaky, don't you?" Cuddles asked.

"Good Flippy likes Flaky," Evil Flippy replied. "But that's not news to you."

"No I meant you, as in Evil Flippy likes Flaky! You like her, right?" Cuddles persisted.

"That's none of your business," Evil Flippy snapped. "And I suggest you stop asking these prying questions. I've told you as much as I'm willing to divulge. Or I might kill you. Do I have your word that you won't tell a single soul what I've just told you?"

"Yes Flippy," Cuddles replied. "But it means the second double date with Flaky and Giggles is on, right?"

"Boy, you are persistent! But if you and Giggles do as I asked, then okay, I'll agree to a second double date with you. Now please drop the topic!"

* * *

It was about an hour later, when the movie finished, that both boys returned to the jeep. Evil Flippy beckoned Flaky to get out of the jeep, while Cuddles sat besides Giggles.

Once Flaky and Evil Flippy were out of the jeep, Cuddles decided to apologize to Giggles, who was still tied and gagged.

"I'm sorry! I'm very sorry Giggles!" Cuddles apologized. "I only did what I did for you! Look, I've got an assurance from Flippy that he won't kill you next time he flipped out! Please believe me."

Giggles glared at the rabbit, looked away, still angry at him.

"Look, what I did was wrong! I'm sorry! Look, you know that I care about you! I promise! I'll do anything! Please! Forgive me! I would never have deliberately hurt you!!"

Giggles looked at Cuddles as he pathetically cried and tried to win her forgiveness.

Evil Flippy and Flaky walked in silence until they were a few yards away from the car. "What's next?" Flaky finally asked.

"I don't know. I suppose I'll kill Cuddles and Giggles. There's nobody else, anyway," he mused.

"But you promised him that he'll live," Flaky protested.

"Which meant nothing," he countered.

Flaky cried. "Then if you kill both of them I cannot follow you. The contract I signed with you is meaningless!"

The bear was surprised. "But you didn't say that of the others when I killed them! You even helped!"

"Cuddles and Giggles are my closest friends, next to Flippy. But I signed that contract knowing that you are a man of your word. That you wouldn't break your promises once you gave them, and that I'm not a fool in believing your words," Flaky replied. "If you killed both of them tonight, then I know I can't trust you. I will know that nothing would ever come out of our agreement, and that since you obviously cannot keep them, I would not keep my obligations to you. I would consider you someone whose word is not worth anything. I'm sorry."

Evil Flippy was surprised at Flaky. She had done something he never expected, and despite himself, was impressed. Besides, his plan all along was to make Flaky follow him, and do as he says, _willingly_, out of a sense of obligation. That way, he would arrest the decline of his influence in Flippy's life, and make his existence worth more than what it was. Complementing Flaky, and admitting he was wrong, was a small price to pay to gain what he ultimately wanted—control of good Flippy, through Flaky. He would have to earn, or at least, retain, her trust.

"I was wrong. You have a spine and a backbone where it mattered," he said. "I won't kill them, and just to show you that I keep my promises, I'll also tell you that I agreed that next time I flipped and tell you to help, that we'd hang out with Cuddles and Giggles. I wasn't going to honor that, but as a sign of my sincerity, I will go through with it."

Flaky was surprised. "Thank you."

"I don't know. At first, you seem to me that you are not worthy of Flippy's shadow, but tonight, I'll admit to you that I was wrong," Evil Flippy said. "I'm impressed by your performance tonight, and I would not be lying if I say to you tonight, that it's the good Flippy who's not worthy of your company. I know now that you are also true to your word, and true to your closest friends."

"To tell you the truth, I want to despise you, to hate you, to abhor you! But, despite everything, I can't," Evil Flippy revealed. "Or rather, I did before, but tonight, it changed. You have given me no reason to, and you took away my justification for disliking you earlier. No. I don't hate you anymore, Flaky. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bloodthirsty murderer, and I'll always be one. I don't hate you, but _I'm not that fond of you either_. Yes, I'll answer your earlier question. You are totally acceptable to me. In fact, no other girl in this godforsaken town is even remotely acceptable to me. Certainly not Giggles and Petunia. Congratulations! Could you imagine me telling you all of this if this happened any time before? I don't either."

Flaky looked at Evil Flippy. He has the same yellow eyes, the sharp teeth, the low voice, that often had killed her and several of her friends. She was surprised by what he said. But Flaky found her voice. "I hated you before, and I still fear you. But after tonight, I know that you're more than a bloodthirsty monster," Flaky replied. "I don't know why you're doing all of this, but, thank you for the dinner, for the jewelry, and for the movies. I don't hate you, Flippy. You've shown a side of you that I never imagined existed."

"My dear Flaky, if I promise somebody that they would die, they would die," Evil Flippy said. "And if I said they would live, they generally would. If I said that I promised to help you with Flippy, I would, and if I said that Cuddles and Giggles would live, they won't die by my hand, at least not tonight. But you have made your own promise to me, and I expect you to keep them. You would, as our agreement, still do everything I say, even at the cost of your own friends?"

"Yes, I am at your beck and call," Flaky replied.

"It would be best, both for you and me, if our agreement is to be kept secret. I trust that Cuddles and Giggles, if they know what is good for them, would keep their mouths shut. As far as the others are concerned, I forced you to do this, or I would kill you," Evil Flippy replied.

Flaky nodded. It would ruin her reputation and her friendships in Happy Tree Town if word got out.

"That takes care of tonight's business. The blood spilt is satisfying," Evil Flippy muttered. "It would be much better if I got to kill Cuddles and Giggles, but a promise is a promise. So, I bid you _adieu._"

Evil Flippy disappeared, and the yellow eyes and sharp teeth were replaced by the sweet pacman shaped eyes, and the buck teeth. "Flaky!" Flippy said in a high pitched voice, confirming that the good Flippy is back. "I flipped again! Oh I'm so sorry," he said as he realized what time it is.

"It's okay. I'm alright," Flaky said. "Just a bit shaken, that's all. But you should go free Giggles. She's tied up in your jeep."

"Oh my God!" Flippy gasped as he saw Giggles. He fumbled at the knots as he tried to untie Giggles.

Cuddles was glad that Flippy is back. Remembering what he promised to Evil Flippy, Cuddles spoke. "Evil Flippy forced Flaky to help him kill our friends! If she didn't, he would kill her, and if that didn't budge her, he would kill us!"

"I'm so sorry," Flippy apologized.

"It's not your fault," Cuddles replied. "Evil Flippy told us that he would kill us after this is over. If you hadn't flipped back, we would have been dead!"

Flaky was silent as she listened to Cuddles' lies. Cuddles is either a good liar, or Flippy was too agitated to notice the rabbit's lying. What would good Flippy think if the truth came out? Hopefully, it won't, or when it does, it wouldn't matter. And what about Giggles?

Giggles spat the saliva drenched cloth that had for too long filled her mouth as soon as Flippy removed the tape encasing her lips. "Thanks," she mumbled as the bear removed the last of the ropes.

As soon as she was free, Giggles gave Cuddles a very hard slap. The slap was so hard that it produced a loud clapping sound, and it caused the rabbit's cheek to go red. She took one of the buckets of ice cream—still filled with soft ice cream, and crowned Cuddles with it.

Giggles looked at Cuddles with anger, then at Flaky with disappointment, and finally to Flippy. "This was a terrible night," she said in barely concealed anger, and marched off.

"Giggles, wait!" Cuddles shouted as he removed the bucket from his head. His head is now covered with ice cream. He chased after the pink chipmunk.

"What's happening?" asked Evil Flippy.

"A lover's quarrel," Flaky replied.

"Do you want to go home?" asked the bear. "Or would you like to go through with our date?"

Flaky was happy that good Flippy was back, and was determined to savour the moment. "I expected to spend the night with you, Flippy, and I still do," she replied, signifying her desire to continue through with their date, despite the events earlier that night.

End of Chapter 5

Notes

To **Evil Flippy**, thanks.

To **Sukiki-chan, **hah! Death is the main course of Happy Tree Friends, isn't it?

To **Laurentius Berry,** thanks for the review.

Anyway, you're right. In fanfic, if you make a story of a one-dimensional character, you always are forced to expand his character, and to make him your own, otherwise, the fanfic would be uninteresting. However, one must caution to make such modifications in line, or at least not contradictory, to his original characterization in the series. Or if you would deviate from his original characterization, there must be compelling reason to. Evil Flippy, for example, is nothing but a killing machine, but he could be much more. However, in attempting to expand his character, he must retain his characteristics which made him Evil Flippy in the first place. Or if he would change, make it slow and gradual, and explicable.

But don't worry. Flaky's choice isn't and dilemma isn't becoming routine, as this chapter demonstrates. She have her core principles, at least in this story, and would stick to it. Killing others remain to be a problem to her, she just feels she doesn't have any choice in the matter.

To **Easymac120, **yes, killing the block of ice is hard, but not impossible. He did die though in the series a few times, though never in an explicit gory manner.

To **flakyXflippylover99, **thanks. Don't worry, I don't think he'll rape her.

To **Scarlet Pikachu, **yes, I always want Toothy, if he dies, to die by the eye.

To **HappyTreeFan,** thanks for the review. I hope you like this chapter.


	6. The Aftermath

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter VI**

**The Aftermath**

Flippy yawned. It was about eight in the morning, and normally, he would've have been awake since six. He was an early riser by habit and there's nothing he disliked more than sleeping the morning off. But this was different. His date with Flaky, courtesy of his evil counterpart, had been extended to about four in the morning, and as a result, he felt a bit groggy. Still, his abhorrence of a wasted day was enough to pull him out of bed. He would make it up by sleeping early in the evening.

He quickly took a cold shower to banish any sleepiness that had been left over. Looking at himself in the mirror, his eyes were buggy, and had to stifle yawns.

But it was worth it. Last night, Flaky was even more tender, and closer than ever before. He couldn't figure out the change, but there was a mixture of perfect happiness, and dread, that hung over her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he sensed a change in Flaky. It was almost impenetrable, undetectable, but it's there. And all signs pointed that the change was for the better.

"_Well, hello. Still the early riser, I see," _Evil Flippy commented in the mirror. _"You should have stayed in bed. Last night was a tad exhausting."_

"No thanks to you," Flippy said. "Thanks for ruining my date!"

"_Ruin it? Oh did I? I don't think so," _he replied. _"I made it perfect, don't you think? Notice how close Flaky was to you? I must say, that girl is not as bad as I believed. Perhaps there's hope for her yet!"_

Now Flippy was intrigued. "What? Don't tell me you're getting soft!" he teased his evil counterpart.

"_Perhaps! But Hitler has his Eva Braun, Napoleon his Josephine, and Caesar his Cleopatra! I wouldn't mind a plaything of my own." _

"She's not yours, and she's not your plaything!"

"_But she's yours, or at the moment, she will be, and if she's yours, she's mine," _Evil Flippy replied.

"You can't do anything to keep us apart!" Flippy declared.

"_Keep you apart? Boy, you don't know anything, do you? Look here, I would not dream of keeping you apart. In fact, it's been you who have kept Flaky a__way!"_

"Me? What do you mean? It's been you who have been ruining our outings together! You killed our friends!"

"_You do love her?" _he asked.

"Why do you care?"

"_I don't. Just answer the question!"_

"Yes, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"_I'll be the judge of that!" _said Evil Flippy. "_So you do love that porcupine! Well, I've got news for you. She loves you too! She told me herself!"_

"What? Why are you telling me this?"

"_Because you are a lily__-livered coward, that's why! You have no guts! She could have been yours for the taking if you have been bold enough to tell her! But no, you have to be a chicken!"_

"Coward? The only reason I didn't tell her is to protect her from you!"

"_You are such an idiot! Maybe Flaky doesn't deserve you! And I did you a favour! I told her you loved her! That's why she's so nice and happy last night!__ And she told me she loves you! Remember that next time you blame me for making your life so miserable!" _

"What, you told her that?" Flippy blurted out.

But Evil Flippy had slipped back into the recesses of his mind and was again inaccessible. He can hear his evil laugh, but nothing more. Flippy pondered what his evil counterpart had said. Half his mind was saying to believe him and revel in the fact that he was the luckiest bear alive, and the other half was saying that it's all a trick of Evil Flippy, and that this was just another scheme to make his life miserable.

* * *

"Giggles! Come in, come in!" Flaky said after she had opened the door to her house to reveal the pink chipmunk.

It was about three in the afternoon, and Flaky had just woken up. She had barely time to fix herself when she heard a knock on the door.

"We have got to talk," Giggles said. "First of all, what is going on?"

Flaky knew what she was talking about, but tried to wriggle out. "Um, well, what is going on about what?"

Giggles sighed. "Look, I know you are going through a difficult time with Flippy, and I know this is a private thing, but you have to admit that when Evil Flippy is involved, it involves me as well."

Flaky wanted to tell her everything, but knew she couldn't. "What do you want to know?"

"You said you had an obligation to Evil Flippy," she began.

Flaky remembered telling Giggles that last night.

"Is it true?"

Flaky nodded. "But I can't tell you what it is."

"Cuddles seems to think that Evil Flippy is some kind of big villain that needs to be understood in order to be less evil," Giggles laughed. "Of course that is ridiculous, with his pandering to Evil Flippy in order to save his skin. But that rabbit has a point. Evil Flippy seems to be nicer with you around. Last night was weird."

"Well, about last night," Flaky began. "You see, um, well, I don't know exactly what happened. Well, Evil Flippy said he won't kill me if I do what he says! Oh I'm sorry if I hurt you last night."

"It's okay. None of this is your fault," said Giggles. "Just tell me one thing. When you helped Flippy kill our friends, tell me that you did not want to do it, and if you were free, you'd do all you can to save us?"

"Yes! You know that's true! I'm your friend, and the friend of all those he killed last night, well maybe not Disco Bear, but, well, the rest are my dear friends, and you know I would never hurt them on purpose!"

Giggles went and hugged Flaky, careful not to hurt herself on the porcupine's quills. "Oh that must be horrible! Being forced to help murder your friends must be pure anguish!"

Flaky fought back her tears. "It is. It is," she said. "Thanks."

Giggles decided to change the topic, as it was becoming too emotional. "I was going to Petunia's today, but she, well, died, last night. I went to see if you're okay."

"Oh! I guess I'm fine. The date with Flippy, after he came back to normal, was pure bliss. How about you? Are you still mad with Cuddles?"

The mere mention of Cuddles' name was enough to change her expression. "That rabbit! Oh, don't remind me! I'm still peeved at what he did last night!"

"Well, he was horrible, but I don't think he did what he did just to infuriate you," Flaky said. "He really has good intentions!"

"I know. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions," Giggles surmised. "He didn't even let me explain that I wouldn't give him away or do anything to get us killed! He kept me gagged the entire night just to prove a point!"

"That was terribly insensitive of him," Flaky conceded.

"Although," Giggles continued, "his point is not entirely wrong. I guess I have to keep my word. I promised that I'd support him in trying to make friends with Evil Flippy if we both survived the night. I thought Flippy would kill us, but I was wrong."

Flaky decided it was not wise to mention the fact that it was she who saved their lives.

"Even though this is crazy, I'd like to know, how did you tame Evil Flippy?"

"Tame him? I didn't tame him at all," Flaky replied. "He simply realized that he has to live with me, so he stopped trying to kill me."

"Say, do you have influence over Evil Flippy?" asked Giggles.

"Influence? What makes you think I have that?" Flaky asked.

"Oh he seems to go out of his way to act nice towards you," the chipmunk replied. "Perhaps, you can ask him, well, it's a stretch to ask him to stop killing all of us, but, what if?"

"Yes?" asked Flaky as Giggles seems to have been at a loss for words.

"Could you ask him not to kill Cuddles and I next time he goes through another rampage?"

"Ask him? I don't know. You know what he'll say," Flaky said, surprised that Giggles would suggest such a thing.

"I know. But it wouldn't hurt, would it?" Giggles replied.

"I guess not," Flaky said.

* * *

The next day…

Flaky forced herself out of bed when she heard a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, she was dismayed that it was only about seven in the morning. She, unlike Flippy, was not an early riser. Yawning, she dragged herself to the front door. It was Pop and Cub.

"Good morning, Flaky," Pop greeted. Cub was besides him, standing, holding Pop's hand, occasionally laughing. "I hope this isn't too early!"

"No. Not at all! It's not too early. Come in, come in. I'll fix you a cup of coffee."

"Thanks, but I really don't have the time. I'm here because of one thing. Are you willing to babysit Cub for the day? You'll be paid well."

Flaky had no plans for the day, and the extra income would not be bad. Besides, she really liked Cub. "Sure."

"Sorry for the short notice. I was planning to call you yesterday, but I died, and only got revived last night, so, you know…"

"I know," Flaky finished as she took Cub. "It happens all the time."

"Well, take care of my son. He's all that's left of his mother," Pop instructed.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to him. He won't die. I promise," Flaky said.

"I know. You're the kindest person in town that I know, so I know he'll be in good hands," said Pop as he bade the baby and his babysitter goodbye.

* * *

Flippy was surprised when he heard a knock on his door. It was early in the morning, about half past seven, and he had just finished his morning shower. And he was even more surprised by the identity of his visitor. It was Pop.

"Pop? What brings you here? Oh, and I'm sorry for killing you the other day," Flippy apologized.

"That's okay. I know it really wasn't you," the father replied. "Anyway, I'd like to ask you something."

"Sure," Flippy said. "Come in, come in." Flippy gestured Pop to his couch.

"How would you like to have a job? I heard that Lumpy is eyeing you as an adviser and overseer of the military collection of his museum," Pop began.

"Oh I don't know," Flippy replied. "I'm quite well-off, and I don't need the money. What am I supposed to do anyway?"

"From what I've heard, all you have to do is to give guided tours to customers, and to classify the military exhibit," Pop offered.

"That sounds interesting. Tell you what," Flippy said. "I'll consider the offer. But don't you think that I'd be too dangerous in that job? I mean, with all those weapons, and all those people, I might flip out more often than not."

"Well, you have to talk to Lumpy about that," Pop said. "But he wants you, and I think he knows what he's doing."

"Well, I'll give it a shot," Flippy said. "But only if he guarantees that I won't flip!"

"I'm sure he'll do. And if you get in, could you do me a favour and recommend me for a position," Pop asked.

"Yes. Sure," Flippy replied.

Pop smiled. "Thanks. Well, I've got to do other things, so I'll see you later," Pop said as he stood to leave. "By the way, if you want that job, I suggest you go today, before noon, at the museum. Bye."

Flippy was unsure of Lumpy's offer, but he was curious, and with his interest in all things military, it might be an enjoyable job.

He quickly showered, dressed his best, and walked towards the museum. However, during his walk, he glanced at a newspaper. He saw a headline entitled, '_INVADERS MASSACRE CIVILIANS'_. Memories of his war days quickly came flooding through his mind, but shrugged it off. He read the article, and it nearly flipped him, but he controlled himself.

He bought a copy of the newspaper, and read all the war news in it. It was sickening, but reading a paper did not make him flip. Instead, what he did next ensured his flipping.

When he finished the paper, he folded it and threw it towards the trash bin behind him. Unfortunately, a strong gust of wind blew it away into the sky, and into the face of the driver of a ten-wheeler truck. The resulting carnage involved explosions, dead bodies, a twenty vehicle pile-up, blood, and flying body parts. It was too much for Flippy. Evil Flippy emerged.

* * *

Flaky shrieked upon seeing Evil Flippy stand at her door. Evil Flippy was wearing a dark suit, but it was covered with blood. It was obvious that he had murdered several Tree Friends before he came to her house. "Evil Flippy!"

Evil Flippy entered her house without taking his eyes off her. "I'm disappointed. After the other night, you'd still shriek upon seeing me?" he said in mock sorrow.

"I'm sorry. I'm just surprised to see you," she lied.

Evil Flippy looked at Flaky. She was the same, except she was carrying a little baby bear. "Why is that brat here?"

"Oh Cub? Well, Pop asked me to babysit him for the day," she explained.

"Well, at least you get to have practice for being the mother of my children," he quipped. "Now, Flippy didn't eat anything before I flipped, so I'm hungry. Before we proceed to business, get me something to eat."

"Yes Flippy," Flaky hurried to the kitchen with Cub. Evil Flippy followed her and sat on a chair, watching Flaky cook.

It was awkward for Flaky to cook while being stared at. Plus, she was still carrying Cub on her arms. She considered leaving Cub with Evil Flippy, but quickly dismissed the thought as ludicrous. She went to the living room, opened the TV to a cartoon channel, left Cub on the floor to watch cartoons, and went back to her work.

"Um, so, Flippy, how was your day?" she asked.

"Oh I killed the Mole and Nutty on the way here," he casually said. "It made me hungrier."

Flaky was, by this time, not afraid for her life. She was more afraid of what she might have to do. She did not want to assist in killing her friends. Yet she knew she would have to if Evil Flippy demanded it of her. She quickly finished preparing the breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and hot coffee.

Evil Flippy gave a sigh of pleasure upon smelling his breakfast. He quickly gobbled it all up, while Flaky prepared Cub's breakfast.

"That was satisfying," Evil Flippy remarked, rubbing his stomach. "Flippy would have wonderful mornings when you two finally tie the knot."

"Um, he hasn't yet told me that he loves me, or asked me to marry him," Flaky replied.

"It's only a matter of time. I'll tell you something, but you already know this. He loves you, but still too afraid to tell you because of me! He says that he doesn't want to tell you to protect you from me! Can you imagine that? Oh Flippy is a coward! He doesn't have the guts to confess! Even when I told him that you told me that you loved him! He thinks that I'm lying, that I'm messing with his mind! He thinks that I'm up to no good! Oh Flippy is both an idiot and a coward! Too bad. A soldier who doesn't believe what is obvious, just because it came from my mouth, and a coward for letting it drag this long. But he'll get it right and come to you with a proposal, even if I have to drag him to it. Now, this coffee is a delight. Make another cup!" Evil Flippy said as if he was talking to a drinking buddy, instead of the object of affections of his counterpart.

Flaky quickly poured hot coffee on his cup. Flaky already knew that Flippy loves him but was quite confused why Flippy had not told her yet, and why he was hesitating. Now she knew the reason. "Flippy only wants to protect me from you? That's why he's tight lipped about it?"

"You really haven't been listening to a word I've been saying, have you? Yes."

Flaky smiled, as her spirits was lifted up. She could not be happier. "Thank you for that information." She went and picked up Cub, and started to feed her.

"Well, breakfast is over and I think it's time to proceed with the day's activities," Evil Flippy said. "First of all, we'll have to dispose of distractions, don't you think?"

"Distractions?"

"Yes. Cub. Hand him over to me, or least get out of the way. I'm going to kill him," he said as he took his bowie knife.

"Cub! No! Don't kill him! He's just a baby! Please!" Flaky pleaded, taking Cub and hugging him for dear life.

"Flaky," Evil Flippy, with a murderous look on his eyes, said, "hand the baby over to me now. This is not a request. This is an order."

Flaky instead took Cub and run to a corner. She curled up, crying. "No. I promised Pop that nothing won't happen to him! Please! I'll do anything! Just don't hurt Cub!"

"Step out of the say," Flippy, in a low threatening voice, said. "Remember the contract that you signed? Well, get out of the way. You've helped me kill Disco Bear, Nutty, and the others. Here, you won't do anything at all except get out of the way!"

Flaky's maternal instincts were too strong, however, and she clutched Cub tightly. "No! Please! Don't hurt him!"

"You signed a contract. Now, hand over Cub! We can't proceed until he's disposed of!" Flippy demanded.

"I don't care! Kill me if you must, but don't kill Cub! If you want to kill Cub, kill me as well!" Flaky shrieked as she hugged the baby closer and tighter. "I'll do anything you want! You know that! I'll even help you kill my friends! But not Cub! Anybody but Cub!"

Evil Flippy was enraged. He didn't expect this kind of behaviour from Flaky. He raised his hand, and prepared to strike.

Flaky clutched Cub, more scared than before, and awaited Evil Flippy's blow.

End of Chapter

Notes

To **Evil Flippy, **well, maybe, but I'm not giving it away, yet.

To **Laurentius Berry, ** well, he has both ulterior motives and transparent reasons for wanting to keep Flaky's real involvement in the murders a secret. As for Flaky, well, she's relying on Evil Flippy keeping his word on his promise to facilitate Good Flippy and Flaky's relationship, and if Flippy couldn't keep his promise to Cuddles, she figured he can't keep his promise to her. And Cuddles, well, he really is pathetic, and even if he didn't die, the slap and the ice cream on head surely is enough humiliation for the yellow rabbit? Even more than death I think.

To **HallowxxxFrom Happy Tree, **thanks. Yes, Evil Flippy is a bit more rounded, I think, but his behavior is both rational, and do not conflict with his personality.

To **Sukiki-chan,** thanks for the complement. Cuddles did deserve to be slapped for his treatment of Giggles.

To **flakyfan13, **well, just read and find out.


	7. Checkmate

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter VII**

**Checkmate**

Evil Flippy looked at Flaky, enraged, and was about to strike her. How dare she defy him! She signed a contract!

However, before the blow could land, he suddenly stopped himself. He realized something. The moment he hits Flaky, it would all be over. He would have violated his promise to Flaky not to hurt her, and she would have no obligation to follow him as a result. It would be stupid to let all that he had worked hard for with Flaky to be ruined just because of a single baby. With great difficulty, he reined in his anger. Still, he was mad.

"Suit yourself," he shouted at Flaky, before bounding out of the house. Soon, she heard a screeching sound of tires, an engine explosion, screams of pain the voice of which belongs to Disco Bear, then more screeching as she heard what appears to be Shifty and Lifty's voices, then silence.

Flaky stood and prepared to flee when Flippy suddenly re-entered the house. He was drenched in blood, and smelled of flesh and smoke. But what really scared Flaky is that Flippy was carrying on his right hand the decapitated heads of Disco Bear, Shify, and Lifty. He smiled, and showed the heads to Flaky. She screamed, and Flippy laughed. He threw the heads to Flaky as it were balls. Flaky, trembling, took the heads and threw it out the window as Flippy watched.

The killings had soothed the temper of Evil Flippy. He was now able to think rationally, and was glad that he didn't kill Cub. Not that he disliked killing babies, but it was not worth losing control of Flaky just because of Cub. Plus, as he looked at Flaky, he learned something. The "absolute" obedience that Flaky promised him in the contract wasn't so absolute, even if Flaky intended it to be that way. There are some limits, some things, that even Flaky cannot be compelled to do. He discovered that helping to murder a baby under her care is one of those things. There are lots of things, Evil Flippy decided, that Flaky would do _willingly_ for him out of a sense of obligation, but there are others that, despite everything, she could not be compelled to do, under any circumstances.

His task then is to test the limits of her obedience, to see how far he could push her without causing her to push back. He will not cross that line, as he felt he would lose everything, but he would go as close to it as possible.

"Oh stop your whimpering! It's beneath you!" he scolded. "I won't kill Cub."

"You won't? Oh thank you," Flaky said.

"Stop that! You're pathetic! Cub is not worth it!" Evil Flippy said. "Now, I was planning on a little excursion, a little killing spree for both of us, but, after this, I think it's better for you to stay home. But, I have plans for you."

"Plans?" asked Flaky as she sat on the chair besides the dining table.

"Yes. Now, look at your house. Tell me what you see," he asked.

Flaky looked around her. "Well, I see the insides of my house," she answered as she fed Cub his breakfast.

"Does it normally look like this?" asked the bear.

"I think so," she replied, uncertain where this is leading.

"Ha! You've just admitted that you're a poor housekeeper! This house is a mess!" he said. "I'll give you a choice. First, you can come with me, and help me murder some unsuspecting fools!"

"And what is the other choice?" asked Flaky.

"Oh you wouldn't like this. Helping me kill some pathetic creatures would take, at most, an afternoon, while the other one you would do until you marry Flippy," he said.

"Anything is better than being an accessory to murder," Flaky cried.

"Oh you're going to miss the fun! You haven't lived your life until you have dipped your hand in the blood and guts of your dead victim!" he said. "But enough of that. Now, here's your second option. Flippy's house is a little bit better than yours, but basically, it's a mess. Now, despite my penchant for murder, with the exception of blood and guts of the people I kill, I am a fastidious bear with regards to my home. Here's my order. Are you listening?"

Flaky nodded, while looking at Cub playing on the floor.

"You are to go to Flippy's house at least six days a week, stay there for at least eight hours a day, and serve as his housekeeper. You are to keep the house spic and span, do his laundry, cook his meals, and such. You may or may not accept payment for it, it's your choice. You will go there every morning, no later than nine, and no earlier than seven, and leave every evening, no earlier than five in the afternoon, and no later than seven. However, under no circumstances will you sleep there for the night, because until you become his wife, it is not your home. While you are there, you will do everything he says, obey every order he barks, unless it conflicts with my orders to you. Of course it goes without saying that if he flips out and I emerge, you will follow every order I give you. You may not take up any job that would interfere with your new duties. And if I am not satisfied with your work, for every day that you did not do a good enough job, I will force you to help me kill a Tree Friend."

Flaky was shocked by Flippy's order. She did not expect this, and it was totally out of character for Evil Flippy. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. "Why do you want me to do this?"

"The short answer is that I can, and it would show that you are under my thumb, and that you will follow my orders. If you refuse to do so, it would lead to very unpleasant things," Evil Flippy explained. "The long answer is, that, I'd rather kill alone, and that, with you by my side, it rather cramps my style, and slows me down. However, if you are not to help me kill, then what is the use of you following me? What orders can I give that I think is worth giving good Flippy over to you?"

"Your reaction with Cub a while ago convinced me that it is counterproductive to engage you in more murders. It is inefficient, and you might even defy me. No. The reason you are following me is because you're doing this as a debt of gratitude for giving you Flippy. Then, I came up with this ingenious solution!"

"I am Flippy, the same Flippy you fell in love with. I am a part of him, and he is part of me," Evil Flippy continued. "If you serve him, you serve me, and if you follow me, you follow him. If you marry him, you become my wife as well, and any child of yours, I will also be the father. Now, I am bit choosy for a wife. I am a bit demanding, and I will tolerate nothing less than total obedience! But you know that! There should be none of this equality bull! I, and by extension Good Flippy, will, in every way, be the dominant one in this relationship! Flippy is too good, too considerate to say this, so I will say it for him!"

Evil Flippy gave an evil laugh that creeped out Flaky more than before.

"Think of this as training for your future role as a wife for good Flippy. I always will insist that he get the best in everything, and you better be best at everything! My home should be spotless! Everything should be organized!"

"Will Flippy agree to it? I mean, I don't he'd like that," Flaky replied.

"Oh I don't care what he'll like. I'll make him agree to it if he in any way objects. Besides, Flaky, you're a smart girl. I'm sure you can make him accept your housekeeping services. But you shouldn't tell Flippy, or for that matter, anyone else, that I gave you this order. It should appear that this was your idea, that you're doing this because you love him so much! Maybe this act of service will finally goad him into proposing, don't you think?"

"But I'm not good at cleaning! Look, you yourself said my house was a mess!" she protested.

"I know. That's why I'm giving you a week to learn the ropes. You have a week to perfect your housekeeping skills. And I suggest you also learn how to sew. Otherwise, you're going help me murder your friends. Do you like our last date to be repeated?"

"No! Please! I don't want to help you kill the others!" the porcupine pleaded.

"Then you know what you have to do!" Evil Flippy laughed. "Well, I have to go. There are some Tree Friends who's enjoying life too much. Somebody needs to burst their bubble. And when I come back, at noon, there better be lunch waiting for me! And it better be good!"

"Flippy, wait!"

"What?"

"Um, could you…" she mumbled the rest of the sentence in such a low voice that she could not be understood.

"Speak loudly! I can't understand you!" he shouted.

"Can you do me a favour?" she whispered in a voice barely audible to Flippy.

"It depends on what that favour might be," he replied.

"Well, um, I was wondering, could you spare, at least two of my friends?" she asked, fully expecting to be turned down. At least, she surmised, she can say to Giggles that she kept her promise.

She was surprised by his answer.

"Sure. I can't kill everybody anyway in a session," he replied. "But in exchange, give me two names of Tree Friends whom you want to die, except Splendid. Plus, you can't choose anyone who's already dead."

"Well, please don't kill Giggles and Cuddles," she asked. "As for someone whom I want to die, well, I don't know. I can't think of any two.""

"Well, I'll spare Giggles and Cuddles. But you have until sunset to decide on two of the Tree Friends who will die. If you can't choose, well, I'll kill Giggles and Cuddles," he said. "Well, see you at lunch."

Fortunately, a few blocks from Flaky's house, a building was demolished using tons of explosives. The sound was unexpected, and was loud and shocking enough to snap Flippy back to normal.

"Oh no!" good Flippy said, looking in horror at his bloodstained appearance. "Not again! And I still need to go to that interview!"

* * *

Flippy went back to his home. There, he took a bath, and wore clean clothes. He was going to a job interview—he was going to look his best. He looked at the mirror as he adjusted his tie.

"_So, you decided you're going to tell that porcupine how you really feel?"_

"I will. But it's not the proper time yet," Flippy replied.

"_Oh the eternal excuse of cowards! So when is the proper time?"_

"Why? Why are you so interested in such matters?"

"_We are one. Whatever interests you interests me! Look, I'm tired of your waiting! Tell her and get it over with! Then propose! Being a bachelor doesn't suit you anyway!"_

"Look, the proper time is none of your business!"

"_Look, I know the real reason is that you're afraid! I am telling you! She loves you! She will be very happy, and so will you, if you just step into her house and say 'I love you!' And guess what, I told her that you love her, so she's waiting! Go! Go and prove you're not yellow, that you're a man! Because right now, you're a chicken!"_

"Now I know this is a trick! If I go there and tell her, then something wrong is going to happen! I know you! You're up to your old tricks again!" Flippy charged. "You never approved of Flaky, and I know you never will. You're planning to keep us apart, to destroy her, to destroy our relationship!"

"_Look, I don't disapprove of it! I encourage it! In fact, Flaky is all yours! I won't kill her, or harm her! What more do you need from me?"_

"You're a liar. You've lied before, and I know that you are lying now! I know that this is part of a plot of yours to destroy us all! I don't know what that plot is, but I'm going to find out, and I won't fall for it! I'm going to tell Flaky in my own time, and my own way! Rest assured that the proper would be when you are no longer around to make things miserable for all of us!"

Evil Flippy was going to argue the point but Flippy stepped away from the mirror, depriving him of his chance to speak with the bear.

* * *

Flippy avoided looking at mirrors all through his journey to Lumpy's museum. This time, he drove his jeep to make up for lost time. The journey took a little over ten minutes.

He saw Pop, talking with Russell, in the corridor of the museum.

"Flippy! I'm so glad you decided to apply for the position!" Pop said as he greeted Flippy.

"Thanks Pop," the bear replied. "Hello Russell!"

"Yarr! Right this way, matey!" he said.

As they passed through the corridors of the museum, he saw that the place is very topsy-turvy, especially the military exhibit. He shook his head at the mess at the museum. They turned a corner, and saw Lumpy, wearing a blue suit and red tie, talking to Petunia, who was holding a clipboard and pen. With him was Sniffles, holding a notebook, and Toothy, standing and listening to the others talk. Flippy's antlers were still broken, an indication that he hasn't died since the date.

"Yarr! Cap'n, Flippy's arrive!" Russell announced.

"Flippy! Good to see you!" Lumpy said as he shook Flippy's hand heartily. "We have so much to talk about. Come with me to my office. Petunia, Sniffles, Russell, Pop, come with us."

"Pop told me that you wanted me here for a job," Flippy began.

"Oh yes. You see, this museum is a mess, and you're the only one who can sort this out. You've seen the military exhibit. Can you tell what those weapons are? I haven't got the foggiest idea! It's like the fog that once covered the town! I tell you, you can't see anything past six feet! You're like blind! Like the Mole. Speaking of the Mole, did you know that he's blind? He once dated me thinking I was Giggles. I only went for the chocolates. Chocolates are delicious. It was so scrumptious you would die for it. Not that anyone died of chocolate, but did you know that I died once while eating it? But nobody else died because of chocolate. Or any other food. Except popcorn. Didn't you know I killed sixteen tree friends because of popcorn? Or was it fourteen? It was at the fair, and I got the biggest ear of corn. I won. It was cold, so I wrapped the corn in an electric blanket. By the way, did you know that an electric blanket is dangerous. Not as dangerous as an axe. But you could kill someone with an axe. Like the time I chopped a Christmas Tree, and killed Giggles in the process. Um, what am I supposed to be talking about?"

"Um, about Flippy's job," Petunia reminded him,

"First of all, I'd like to apologize for breaking off your antlers," the bear began.

"Oh forget about it! I know it wasn't really you! Besides, I can fit in doors that were too narrow for me before because of my antlers! And you know it'll come back once I die and return! Like all of us. I think Cuddles died the most. I'm not sure. Giggles is next. But if you're going to die, I think it's better to die in a painless way. Like Mime. Mime's death mostly are quick, lucky fellow. Mime can't talk, but he can make sounds, can you imagine? Like Cro Marmot. CroMarmot can give ice cream while in a block of ice! It's the craziest thing I ever so! But not as crazy as his surfing! I was a champion surfer! Did you see my trophies! Most people think I can't do anything right, but I can surf! Heck, Giggles and Petunia swooned over my surfing skills. Isn't that right? Um, what the hell am I talking about?"

"About Flippy's apology on breaking your horns," Pop said.

"Don't worry. You're forgiven," Lumpy said. "Oh yes. The other night, remember when Evil Flippy, Flaky, Cuddles and Giggles ate at Ritz? Well, the bill is twenty thousand dollars! Here is a copy of the receipt. Evil Flippy refused to pay it, and naturally, I didn't push it. Now, would you like to pay it now, or at a later time, or would you rather work it off? Or do you want to be sued at court?"

Flippy gave a nervous laugh. He took his checkbook from his pocket, and gave Lumpy a check for $20,000 to pay the restaurant bill.

* * *

At Lumpy's office...

Lumpy sat behind a large desk filled with paper, while Flippy sat on one of the chairs opposite the table. The others stood behind him.

"I want you to head the military department of the museum, and I'd like you to be deputy manager at the same time," Lumpy said. "When I'm not around, you'd be in charge, and every other employee would be under you. You'll be paid six figures a month for the job. What do you say?"

Flippy and the others were speechless. "Why me?" he finally asked.

"Oh I have my reasons, and no, I won't take no for an answer!" Lumpy said.

"Come on, take it!" Pop encouraged.

"Yarr matey! It be ye chance of a lifetime!" Russell added.

"Now, Sniffles, get some weapons from the exhibit! Petunia, I want four cups of coffee! And two sandwiches," he ordered.

"Yes sir. Anything else?" Petunia asked.

"No. That would be all," the moose replied.

"Well, thank you," Flippy finally said when he regained his composure. "It would be an honor working under you."

"Well, that would be peachy! Reminds me of peaches that I ate last summer. Peaches are scrumptious. But not as delicious as sandwiches. Like the one I ate during Disco Bear's operation. I was the surgeon there! Nobody thought that you could put a heart of a whale in a bear and have him survive, but it proved them wrong! And Giggles thought I was crazy when I said a bicycle pump could substitute as a heartbeat! But they all ate crow! Crows! Like those crows that nearly ruined my giant corn! But I won the fair! Fair. They all died though. Except me. Like the time we went on an arctic expedition with Russell. I accidentally burned the ship, and they all died. Except me. I went looking for a switch on an opener on a can of beans, and I found it! But by the time, they were all dead. Like the time we went exploring for that cursed idol. Our ship struck an iceberg, that telescope pushed my antlers and pushed my brain out. Sniffles survived the voyage but that crack sliced him. Shouldn't have brought back that cursed idol. That idol killed Toothy, Flaky, and Sniffles!"

"Sir, what are you talking about?" Flippy interrupted.

"Oh right. Well, it's good that you are here on board the museum. Sniffles! Glad you brought the weapons. Now Flippy, before I hire you, I want to make sure you know your stuff. I don't know anything about this. Now, tell me what this is."

Lumpy took a crossbow from the weapons that Sniffles brought.

"Well, that's a twelfth century crossbow. It was used in castle sieges as a defensive weapon," Flippy began. Flippy took the arrow and demonstrated how to use it. "You put this arrow here, and then, you wind the string using this crank. There!"

Lumpy took the armed crossbow and began toying with it.

"Careful now sir. Don't pull that trigger!"

"Oh you mean this one?" Lumpy asked, touching the trigger, and accidentally pulling it. The arrow was discharged, and it hit Russell in the chest, piercing his heart, and killing him the process.

Lumpy and the others gasped. "Oops, sorry," Lumpy apologized. "Giggles, I mean Petunia, clean that mess!" Petunia had just arrived with the coffee and sandwiches. She put the tray on Lumpy's desk and removed the body of Russell.

Flippy nearly flipped. Luckily, Lumpy took a glass of water from his desk, and dumped its' contents of Flippy. It stopped the process of flipping out. "Thanks," the green bear said.

"Now," Lumpy said. "How about this?"

Flippy looked at the weapon that the moose was pointing at. "That is a halberd. It is a combination of a pike and a battle axe, and is used by pikemen to repel armoured knights on horseback and to fight other pikemen."

"You really did your homework!" Lumpy commented. "May I see that? So how do you use this thing?"

"You shouldn't swing it," Flippy explained.

"So you shouldn't do it like this?" the moose replied, then swung the long halberd erratically. Unfortunately, his wild swing travelled the room in fast motions, and Toothy, who was in the office standing silently the whole time, was not able to jump out of the way. It hit his neck, and he was instantly decapitated.

Lumpy quickly dropped the bloodstained halberd as he gasped upon seeing Toothy's head roll across the floor. His body fell, and it began spewing blood.

It was too much for Flippy, and he began to flip out.

The moose saw the eyes of the green bear, and knew what was happening. Unfortunately, there were no more glasses of water. But there was four cups of coffee that Giggles brought earlier. He was about to toss the hot coffee on Flippy when the smell of it reached his nose. He took a sip, and forgot about Flippy as he drank it.

Evil Flippy looked around and saw his first victim. Petunia had just come back after she had disposed of Russell's body. He took a knife from the weapons that Sniffles brought. Petunia tried to run, but Flippy was upon her. He threw his knife at her feet, cutting her hamstring and causing her to fall down on the floor. She was in pain, but she cannot stand because of her cut hamstring. She writhed helplessly on the floor, awaiting her fate.

Lumpy saw what was happening, and realized that it was too late to prevent Evil Flippy from emerging. He quickly finished his cup of coffee. Looking around, he saw Pop white with fear, trembling and barely able to move. He quickly grabbed the light brown bear, and shoved him inside a small closet besides the office. "Stay there until this is over, and listen to, and above all remember, everything that is being said!" he instructed.

Evil Flippy turned his attention to Sniffles. Sniffles took a pistol from the pile, and fired it at the green bear. Unfortunately, it was not loaded. Evil Flippy used his sword to slash Sniffles' neck. The anteater's jugular vein was cut, and Sniffles would have died of blood loss if Evil Flippy had left him alone. As it was, he took a mace from the pile of weapons, and bludgeoned the poor anteater to death.

He approached Petunia, who screamed. He laughed as he used his mace to hit Petunia in the head. One hit was enough to crack her skull, and penetrate her brain. She was dead in a couple of minutes.

He looked around and saw Lumpy as the only one remaining alive (he didn't notice Pop being hidden in the adjacent closet). He was seated in his office chair behind his table with a smug look on his face, and smoking a cigar.

Clutching his mace, he approached the blue moose.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lumpy said, revealing a semi-automatic pistol in his hand, pointed at Evil Flippy.

"You don't know how to use that thing," Evil Flippy laughed.

Lumpy pulled the trigger. The bullet went between Evil Flippy's body and arm, and demonstrated beyond doubt that not only can he fire it, but he was also an excellent shot. "You forget! I am also a police officer!"

"Big deal! So you know how to shoot! I can easily kill you! You forget! I am a veteran, and I've killed many opponents armed more heavily than you, and with more skills than you could ever hope to possess! So drop that weapon, and I promise you a quick painless death!"

"You can kill me, but if you do, the rest of this town will know that Flaky helped you kill her friends because you promise to give Flippy to her, not because you threatened to kill her. Oh I can only imagine the uproar that would cause. And I would also tell good Flippy of the contract you signed with Flaky, how you promised not to stand in their way in exchange for absolute obedience to you! Ha, I know everything that has recently been going on between you and Flaky!"

Evil Flippy stopped in his tracks. Nobody was supposed to know! "How did you know that? It's a secret! I'll kill you!"

Lumpy laughed in a condescending way. "Wouldn't you like to know? Sorry, you'll have to find it out for yourself!"

"You don't have proof!"

"Oh I have proof, and it's very convincing, if you ask me. What that evidence is, well, I won't say. Try to guess. If you don't believe me, kill me now, and you'll see all the proof you need when all your plans come crashing down! Yes, it would crash like an airplane gone out of control! Like the time I went on an airplane where Sniffles was the pilot! Well, the reason that plane crashed is because he stupidly let himself be killed by a tray. A tray of airplane food. Airplane food is good, but not as good as food on the ground. For example, a hotdog on a concession stand on a stadium is better than one in a plane. Hotdogs are good, but not as good as burgers. However, if you want to fully enjoy your burger, you should put some ketchup, mustard, lettuce, and cheese, though I really don't like mustard. A bit of chilly sauce would make it better. Also, you should put chilly sauce on hotdogs and ham—"

"What does chilly sauce have to do with your proof?" Evil Flippy, exasperated by the wandering of Lumpy's mind, shouted. What frustrated him the most is the lack of fear of Lumpy. He was so sure, so confident, that it maddened the green bear. He should've been trembling in fear at his mere approach. Then again, Lumpy was the only one who has survived his attacks before—thrice. Flippy even got killed in the attempt! In fact, he has only been able to kill the moose only once before.

"Well, you see, chilly sauce is… Well, by golly, it doesn't have anything to do with it! Well, sorry for straying from the topic, it's a bad habit of mine! Well, as for proof, you'll see the proof, and so will everyone else, including good Flippy, if you kill me! Well, kill me now! What are you waiting for?" Lumpy said, putting his gun on the table.

Evil Flippy was very angry. No one has ever talked to him like that before and lived! No one! He wanted to kill the blue moose. He wanted to teach him a lesson he would never forget. But he cannot risk the failure of his plan with Flaky and good Flippy. He would have to deal with Lumpy, even if it would mean that he would have to swallow his pride. But first, he would have to ascertain Lumpy's will.

"Don't be so sure of yourself! If I kill you, I don't think you could bring yourself to destroy Flaky's reputation, and her relationship with good Flippy! She's your friend! You won't let her crash and be hurt just to save your own skin!"

Lumpy laughed. "I couldn't care less what others think of her or her love life! I killed her for popping our life raft when we were stuck on that island, remember? You, Handy, Sniffles, and I killed her! Besides, she did something wrong when she agreed to help you kill our friends in exchange of Flippy's love. I think ruining her reputation is sufficient punishment, don't you think? Besides, Flippy ought to know the depths she's willing to plumb in order to have him! No. I will tell them if you do anything foolish. If you don't believe me, kill me right now, and you will know how serious I really am! Don't think I'm a nice caring kind of person who won't hurt my friends no matter what! No. I killed Toothy to sell his body parts at my toy store, remember? And Toothy was, and still is, one of my closest friends. You're not the only who has killed someone on purpose, you know."

Evil Flippy gritted his teeth. Among all the tree friends, despite basically being kind, helpful, and decent, Lumpy was the only one selfish enough to trade his friends' reputation, and endanger their lives, just to be rich, or to save his own skin.

"Don't worry. I'm the only one who knows about it. Although it could change. It's up to you whether or not it remains a secret. By the way, why do you care about her reputation?"

"It's none of your business! But if you must know, I don't, okay? It's better for my plans if she remained unsullied in the minds of her friends. And good Flippy must not know about this. Absolutely! Or it would be all over!"

"Ha! I thought as much! That is why I've been waiting for you to show yourself to me ever since I found out about this!"

Evil Flippy looked at the manager of the museum with absolute hatred. But he could do nothing that would endanger his plans for Flaky and Flippy. They are his priority, and Lumpy's fate could wait until his plan matured and he longer needed Lump's silence.

"Okay. In exchange for keeping this is a secret, I won't kill you! Happy?" Evil Flippy shouted.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, my boy," Lumpy stated. "I want something more."

"What, that's too much!" Evil Flippy shouted.

"Well, if you won't agree, you might as well kill me, because I'll tell the world of your little contract," Lumpy stated.

"Okay. In addition to sparing your life, what do you want in exchange for keeping it a secret?" He asked. It was the most difficult thing he could say, but he had to do it.

The blue moose smiled. He stood up his full height. His height is double that Evil Flippy and he towered over the evil doppelganger. For the first time in his life, Evil Flipppy felt utterly small next to somebody. "Well now, at least you have come to your senses. As for what I want, listen here, my boy, and listen good! Do as I say, and I won't interfere in that little plan of yours! Are you listening?" He laughed his idiotic laugh at Evil Flippy.

End of Chapter

Notes

To **Evil Flippy, **that phrase really struck a chord, didn't it? Thanks for the review

To **Laurentius Berry, **oh yes, Evil Flippy lost his temper, and nearly hurt Flaky in the process. If he had, well, it would be counterproductive to his plans. Good thing he had enough sense to stop at the last moment.

That phenomenon is specially true for lions. Basically a stray male would invade a pride, drive the males away, kill the cubs, and mate with the mothers. I saw such a scene once in a National Geographic documentary. It's really painful to watch the lions kill the cubs.

Well, evil men can sometimes be kind their children. Even if Evil Flippy can care about someone other than himself, it doesn't change the fact that he is a murderous bastard.

Good Flippy would have more roles as this story progress, don't worry.

To **flakyfan13**, well, Cub survived this chapter.

To **SimpleBend,** thanks for the review!


	8. Adaptations

**Measure of Acceptability**

**Chapter VIII**

**Adaptations**

Evil Flippy listened as Lumpy stated his conditions for his silence.

"First of all, you will not kill me, or hurt me in any way, or do anything that will hurt me, or cause anything to happen that will kill or hurt me," he began.

"That goes without saying," the bear replied.

"Second, well, I'll tell you why Flippy is here in the first place. Well, I want him to work for me as a deputy, and one of the problems is his flipping out," Lumpy explained. "Well, I know you can will good Flippy to come back if you want it. If he flips out when at work here at the museum, or any other place under me, you will immediately flip back, or if you don't want to, then you should refrain from killing inside the work premises, and do good Flippy's job! Oh, if he quits this job, or from any other job where he works for me, I'll consider it as your responsibility, and I'll blurt out your plans to good Flippy."

"How long does he have to work anyway?"

"Oh I'm planning about eight hours a day, five days a week, like a sack on potato on ice." Lumpy said.

Evil Flippy gritted his teeth, but held his temper in check. "Is there anything else?"

"One more thing. This is for you. Well, I might need your 'talents' for special services, if you know what I mean," Lumpy began.

"You mean if you wanted someone killed? That would be easy," the bear replied. "Do you want anyone to die right now?"

"Well, yeah, kinda like that. No, not today," the moose replied. "Well, that's all. All that there is too it, apparently. Well, that's it! All of it! All! That is Lla backwards, don't you know. All. Ha! Ha! It's so funny! What am I talking about again? Oh yes. That is all."

"That's all? And here I thought you wanted me to stop killing all the Tree Friends," Evil Flippy said.

"Oh no. They can take care of themselves, like those small elves living on the hole on Nutty's tongue," said Lumpy, laughing. "If Flaky, Cuddles, and I can do it, why can't they? If you want to kill the others, go ahead, as long it won't interrupt their work if they're working for me. Cro Marmot dumped lava on Splendid's head, and Sniffles' head turned into a chicken! Can you believe that? It's like sand jumping down like lice on little elves on Mars!!"

The bear ignored his nonsensical ramblings, and concentrated on the words that made sense. "You're a cold-blooded bastard," Evil Flippy stated.

"Well, not all the time," the blue moose replied. "I need to talk to good Flippy right now. Please, let him come back."

Evil Flippy stared at the blue moose, and let good Flippy take over. His eyes returned to their normal pacman shaped pupils, and his buckteeth returned.

"Huh? Oh no! I flipped out again! I'm sorry!" Flippy said in his high pitched voice. "I blew it, didn't I?"

"You killed Sniffles and Petunia, but other than that, things aren't as bad as it looks, aside from occasional spilt coffee, but it's not as bad as spilt milk. Anyway, you can cry over spilled coffee, but don't ever cry over spilled milk. Milk! Ah, what a delicious treat! Oh yeah," Lumpy said, looking at the scattered corpses in his office. "Could you dispose of the bodies? They are my friends, but dead, they are ugly, and revolting," he instructed. "Could you please bury it in the yard?"

Flippy hurriedly complied as he was guilty over the mayhem caused by his evil form.

As soon as Flippy disappeared with the bodies of Sniffles, Petunia, and Toothy, Lumpy went over the adjacent closet. "You can come out now," the moose said in a loud voice. "There's nothing to fear but those cute little critters feasting on the blood of the dead. One of them looks like Disco Bear. Can you imagine?"

Pop quickly emerged, trembling, but with a sense of relief.

"You heard everything?" asked Lumpy.

"Yes. But it still is puzzling. I mean, Flaky helping Evil Flippy kill the others in exchange for love?"

"I know. But keep it a secret," the moose instructed. "As for Flaky, don't judge her too harshly. She is a nice girl, and I don't think she'd do anything to harm her friends without good reason. Like that time when she went to the zoo, and killed some chicks when she fell and impaled them with her quills, plus, well, anyway, it's like the water going on blood towards the tree. Oh, sorry for rambling. Don't think Flaky is bad because of this. I'm sure she's doing this because of some noble reason. Like the time I accidentally killed all of you because I put a warm blanket on a giant ear of corn. That was fun! At least I won. Oh I'm rambling again. Sorry. Anyway, Flaky is really a nice girl."

"If you say so," said Pop. "I just hope she really has a good reason for what she's done. Are you really going to tell the town what happened if Flippy killed you? I mean, isn't it going to ruin Flaky?"

"If it did, it's only right," Lumpy said. "She did something wrong, and she should pay for it, like the time Cuddles want to buy that guitar, and went to Mole's bloodmobile to get blood. Boy, it was funny when Cuddles became a sofa when Mole injected him with chair cushioning. Oops. I rambled again. Anyway, Flaky should thank me that I'm giving them a chance to save her good name."

"I just hope that Evil Flippy does follow your instructions, for Flaky's sake."

"I hope so too. Do me a favour and watch over Flaky. I mean don't try to tell her what to do. Just be there when she needs a father figure to lean on, and well, you know what to do, Pop. You're a father."

Before Pop could reply, Flippy returned.

"Flippy! You're finished already?" Lumpy exclaimed.

"Yes. I buried them in the yard just as you said."

"Well, Pop here ran out and hid in another room when Evil Flippy appeared," Lumpy lied. "Now, Flippy, let's discuss your job. Report here after two days, and Sniffles, after he's back from the dead, will tell you how to do your job. Is that okay?"

"It's okay, sir. But I can't accept. I'm a danger to everybody around here. They fear me! I won't be welcome," Flippy said.

"Uh don't worry. I'll fire anyone who makes life difficult for you around here. And as my deputy, you can also fire anyone who offends you when I'm not around," Lumpy said. "Besides, I have already taken care of Evil Flippy. So you won't have to worry about him killing anyone when he flips out!"

"Really? But how? Even I can't stop him from killing everyone in sight," the green bear appears. "How did you do it?"

"Don't worry about it. I have taken care of it. Trust me. And because they fear you, they'll do whatever you say," Lumpy said. "Any more objections?"

"Well sir, no. Okay. As long as Evil Flippy doesn't kill anyone here, I'll do the job," the veteran replied.

"Good! See you two days from now. Now," he said, grabbing a grenade from the pile of weapons. "I never knew what this thing is and what it does. Can you tell me?"

"That's a grenade. You pull the metal pin—"

"You mean this one?" he answered as he pulled the pin from the grenade.

"You idiot!" Flippy shouted. "Throw it out! Throw it out before it explodes!"

"Huh? Oh yes," the blue moose said as he threw the pin out the window.

"Not the pin, Lumpy, the grenade!" Flippy shouted.

Lumpy threw the grenade, but threw it on the wall instead of on the window. The grenade bounced off the wall and landed on the table. Flippy tried to grab it and throw it out the window, but before he could do it, it exploded, killing Pop, Flippy, and Lumpy.

* * *

Two days later…

It was Flippy first day of work at the museum. Lumpy switched jobs and once again became a doctor in the hospital, leaving Flippy to be in charge. Sniffles quickly briefed him of his new duties. His friends who also worked there were glad that he was now in charge instead of Lumpy. Most of the other employees, however, knowing only his reputation, were wary and afraid of him.

He was alone in his office, his briefing being finished early. He looked at the mirror, wondering what is in store for him. He wondered about how Lumpy was able to persuade his evil twin to refrain from killing his fellow employees. Maybe he was just bluffing, and that Lumpy really has no plan to handle his evil counterpart?

"_Well, hello there!" _Evil Flippy said as he appeared in the mirror.

"You! Look here! I have a pretty good job here! Don't ruin it!"

"_Don't worry. I promise that if I come out, I won't kill anyone. Here. I'll just wait until your work is over, then I'll start the fun!"_

"Why should I believe you?"

"_You don't need to. You'll believe me next time I come out while you__'re working and no one died. Is that proof enough for you?"_

"If so, then why? What are you up to?"

"_Who says I'm up to something! You should thank Flaky. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be so restrained. I would kill the moment I got out!" _

"Flaky asked you to stop killing while I'm at work?"

"_Figure it out yourself__!" _Evil Flippy laughed. _"She's waiting you know. You shouldn't postpone your declaration of love! You know, she's head over heels over you, but you already know that. She wants you so much that she's willing to sell her soul to anybody to get you!"_

"I will! Once I get rid of you! Then I'll know she'll be safe!"

"_You __can't get rid of me! I'm a part of you! Without me, you would never have survived the war! You can't live without me!" _he laughed as he disappeared into the recesses of Flippy's mind.

Flippy held his head and contemplated. What is Evil Flippy up to? Nothing good, he can only conclude. Yes. He loves Flaky. He loves her so much that he can't bear to have her hurt or killed by Evil Flippy. He can't say anything to her without making sure she won't pay the price of Evil's transgressions. He fears for Flaky. That is why he held back. He loves her so much that he's willing to bottle up his true feelings until the problem of Evil Flippy could be resolved. But how? He had been thinking that ever since Evil Flippy first appeared in the war. So far, nothing. But he won't give up.

* * *

Flaky was in her house. She was cleaning, practicing on being a housekeeper in Flippy's house, yet somehow, she can't do a perfect job at it. Her house was clean, but not to her satisfaction. It was the same job that Evil Flippy commented on two days ago. She sighed. Evil Flippy's new orders to clean Flippy's house six days a week delighted her. She won't be assisting in killing her friends at least. And she would help Flippy. And as Evil Flippy says, she would have practice on being a good wife. She has no other ambition whatsoever, thus, she was content to play the role of housewife.

She sighed. Despite her efforts, her house was not spotless. She sat on her couch to rest. She began to daydream about the green bear when there was a knock on the door. "Hey Flaky, are you there?" she heard Cuddles shout.

She quickly opened the door and saw the yellow rabbit with a big smile in his face. "Flaky! There's a new ride in the Lumpy Land Amusement Park! They say it's safer than the one before ever since Lumpy hired Sniffles as his chief engineer!"

"No. I'm afraid. What if something went wrong? You know I don't like to go on such rides! I vomited the last time I went, remember? You got your hands cut and you died!" she fearfully said.

"Aw! Don't be a baby! Come on! You gotta get out of your shell and enjoy life! You've already dated Evil Flippy! What's a roller coaster ride compared to that?" Cuddles argued. "It'll be fun!"

Flaky could not reply because the rabbit practically pulled her into his car and buckled her in. "By the way, thanks!"

"Thanks? For what?"

"Giggles said that you promised to ask Evil Flippy to not kill us when he flipped out! Well, two days ago he did just that, and he didn't kill us! Don't be modest! I know it was you!"

"Well, um, Giggles is speaking with you again?" Flaky replied, changing the topic.

"Yeah. We made up. She can't bear to be apart from me. She apparently agreed that it would be worthwhile, and more importantly, feasible to get on Evil Flippy's good side!"

* * *

Flaky was amazed by the sight when the reached Lumpyland. The rollercoaster in particular was massive. "That's Sniffles' work. Twice as fun, and twice as safe!" Cuddles proclaimed. "Today is the opening! Lumpy gave me two free tickets!!"

"Um, shouldn't you be with Giggles, then? Or Toothy?"

"Giggles is working, while Toothy is just recovering from being resurrected," the rabbit said as he pulled Flaky towards the ride. There was a long line, but they held special passes courtesy of Lumpy that enabled them to skip waiting in line.

At first, all was well. However, Sniffles made several mistakes. In particular, in reaction to the moose's crude engineering, he overcompensated by introducing new features that was supposedly state-of-the-art. It was so complex, and so intricate, that it soon revealed itself as susceptible to damage as Lumpy's simplistic design was. It was over-engineered.

They were at the height of the rollercoaster when several bolts became loose. And the seatbelt bolts came loose. The great speed of the cart that the two friends were riding on caused the two friends to be thrown into the air when it suddenly stopped because some of the loose bolts got entangled with the wheels of their cart.

Flaky screamed. She was going to die again. She closed her eyes and awaited her death—screaming and flailing her arms helplessly.

* * *

It was noon. Lumpy's museum was close for two hours—from 11:30 in the morning to 1:30 in the afternoon. The two hour lunch break enabled Flippy to go out and eat in his favourite restaurants. However, he was accosted by thieves in a back alley. He was wounded by a knife when he fought his assailants. It reminded him of war, and Evil Flippy took over.

Evil Flippy handily killed all the thieves, then proceeded to massacre all the people that he could see. He went to Lumpyland because of the number of people to kill there. However, after he killed at least five people, he was interrupted when he heard Flaky scream.

He looked up and saw Flaky falling to her death. He quickly went up a platform where he can reach the porcupine. He grabbed Flaky's hand as she fell by, and quickly pulled the porcupine up the platform.

"You are an idiot for riding in this roller coaster after what happened last time!" he scolded. "What were you thinking?"

Flaky ignored is harsh reprimand. "You saved my life? Oh thank you!" she gratefully said.

"Thank the contract that we signed! Otherwise, I'll be laughing at your death right now!"

"Still, it isn't everyday—" Flaky began but was interrupted when she heard a scream.

"Help! I don't want to die!" Cuddles screamed as clutched for dear life a twisted rail. It was obvious that his grip was slipping, and that it was only a matter of time before he would fall to his death, unless someone saved him.

"Cuddles! Oh Flippy, please save him! Save him! Please!" Flaky pleaded hysterically.

"Look, if it wasn't for all this, I would kill him, you, and all the others. It's bad enough that I have to save you, but it would be a no-no if I have to save that rabbit! I agreed to refrain from killing him, not to save his ass when he gets into trouble!"

"I'm sorry," said Flaky. "I shouldn't have asked you." She then went and tried to climb up the twisted roller coaster rails to reach Cuddles.

Evil Flippy sighed. She's going to get killed if she keeps this up. "You're going to get killed, you idiot!" he shouted.

"I don't care! He's my friend. If you're not going to save him, then I will. And you can't order me not to!"

"You can't do anything! He'll die before you can reach him!"

"I don't care!" Flaky yelled. In truth, she was scared to death by what she was doing. She was shaking, and she slipped several times and nearly got killed. Evil Flippy shook his head. It would be bad if Flaky died because of him.

"Oh stop that! You'll blame me if you get killed trying to save that rabbit! I'll do it!" he said. He grumbled. He wasn't supposed to be saving lives!! His contract with Flaky tells him that he must protect her. He shook his head. He could simply physically restrain her, but that might hurt her. "But you'll have to pay for this, Flaky. I'm going to get my pound of flesh for this good deed!"

"Thank you," the porcupine merely said.

The green bear quickly ascended the roller coaster to where Cuddles is hanging for dear life, pulled him to safety, and brought him back to the platform where Flaky was.

"Thanks," Cuddles said.

"You're lucky that you have such a good friend as that porcupine," Evil Flippy said. "Or I would have let you die a horrible death! And as far as both of you are concerned, if anyone else asks, it was good Flippy that saved you, okay?"

"Sure," Cuddles said. "But how about the crowd down there?"

"Just tell them I flipped back when Flaky screamed," Evil Flippy said. "I'm far enough that they didn't have a good look at my eyes or teeth. Now, Flaky, give me the two names of the Tree Friends you want dead!"

"Oh. I want Shifty and Lifty to die," Flaky said. In truth, she had been thinking for the last two days of two friends, who, in exchange for the lives of Cuddles and Giggles, would die. The fact that Shifty and Lifty just got revived from the dead simplified matters for her.

"And I forbid you from ever going on this roller coaster again, and for that matter, Lumpyland!" Flippy ordered.

Flaky nodded.

"And Cuddles, if you ever drag Flaky on another one of your foolish trips against her consent again, and she got killed or hurt, notwithstanding any promise I gave to Flaky not to hurt you, I will skin you alive! No. I will torture you in the most painful way possible. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear," the rabbit answered. "Don't worry, I'll protect her in your absence!"

"That's what I am afraid of," Evil Flippy replied before disappearing.

"That was fun! Want to try that again!" Cuddles shouted.

"Please no. I don't want to die!" Flaky protested.

"Just kidding!" Cuddles laughed. "I'll do anything for fun, but I draw the line at offending Evil Flippy and risking a violent death!"

"Thanks."

"Hey, isn't that Nutty and Disco Bear down there?" he asked. He went to the edge of the platform to wave at them. The platform was without railings, however.

"Be careful! You might fall!"

"Don't worry, I'll—" Cuddles said, but was cut off when a sudden gust of wind blew and pushed Cuddles off the three storey high platform.

Flaky gasped as she looked down. Cuddles' body was splattered to the ground. He was obviously dead. Flaky vomited as she became sick, both from seeing her friend dead, and from being at such a great height.

* * *

Evil Flippy was angry. He went back to his office at the museum with just a few minutes to spare to 1:30 p.m. What was becoming of him? Saving Flaky is understandable—after all, he agreed to do it as part of their contract, but what of Cuddles? Why did he let Flaky persuade him to rescue that rabbit? Why did he grant her the favour of not killing him and Giggles? Why did he care so much about Flaky's reputation? Why? Flaky is not always obeying him—why was he tolerating it from her? Why didn't he kill Cub? Of course he persuaded himself that there were rational reasons, but it seems to him that they were all rationalizations, meant to conceal some subtle reason that he is unwilling to admit.

Is he becoming soft? No. He still has the taste of blood that marks him out from the inhabitants of Happy Tree town. His latest kills was just a few minutes ago. Yet here he was, stuck in an office, under the thumb of a dumb moose. Lumpy. The mere memory of his name was enough to make his blood boil. How is it that someone as feared as him and who held the power of life and death over the inhabitants of this town could sink so low?

The plan he elaborately made was now hanging by a thread resting on the goodwill of Lumpy and the trustworthiness of Cuddles and Giggles. Whereas before he was confident of success, now it could go either way. He must walk nimbly, be smart and wise as well as strong, be able to do what was abhorrent to him before, for him to triumph. He must do he must to keep the moose's good favour, humor Flaky so that she would more and more be drawn towards him, set Flippy on the right course, and somehow, he calculated, at the end, if all of this bears fruit, he would be supreme. He would be master of Flippy and Flaky and Happy Tree Town. His dominion would be assured.

But he must first find out if he can wiggle out of Lumpy's web. What evidence did he have that the idiot could be so sure would destroy his plans? He must find out. If not, then he would have to bow down to Lumpy. But perhaps, even if that is the case, all is not lost. The blue moose, after all, is not the sharpest tool in the box. He was not as stupid, as say, Nutty, but he's pretty dim-witted. He might be smart and clever in some things, but in general, his intelligence is mediocre. Maybe he could use him for his own purposes? And the fact that Lumpy, despite his lack of intelligence, has the most authority in town, and has the most influence, would even make it more delicious. Perhaps, he can control the Town through the blue moose?

Flaky. Flaky was the cause of all this. If Flaky did not exist, or if she did not meet Flippy, then none of this would happen, and he would be happy. But she's there, and, for better or for worst, was part of his life. She had changed and influenced his actions more than either of them would admit.

Then there is Flippy. Good Flippy. His stubbornness have complicated his plans. He had envisioned that Good Flippy would come running after Flaky declaring his love and such after he told good Flippy that he approved of the match and that he won't hurt Flaky. But he won't believe him, not that he'd blame him. He knows that both of them love each other, and that they would eventually find each other. It was inevitable. But he must make them realize, or at least Flaky, that it was he who made it possible, or all his efforts would be wasted.

First, he must make good Flippy marry Flaky as soon as possible.

Second, he must find the evidence that Lumpy has, or failing that, to keep to his good side in order to prevent him from revealing to the Town what's really happening.

Third, Good Flippy must never know about his plan until at least the marriage. After that, he felt confident that he would be too attached to Flaky to contemplate separation.

Fourth, Flaky's good standing in the Town, must at all cost be preserved. What she did with him, regarding the recent spate of murders, is scandalous and would turn Flaky into a pariah with most of the town. No, he felt Flaky could best serve him as a decent citizen, instead of an outcast. Plus, it the town found out, so would good Flippy, and he can't have that.

Fifth, he must at all times be careful, as a small misstep might ruin his entire scheme.

Today he might have sunk low. But he was determined to rise above it all, and seize his rightful place in the sun. Flaky and Flippy would be his. And Lumpy would pay. As would the Town.

End of Chapter

Notes

To **Evil Flippy, **thanks for reading!

To **Laurentius Berry,**oh yes, Evil Flippy should be the last to be bullied by Lumpy, but sometimes, you just get plain unlucky. As for revenge, well, we'll see.

His real fear is that if good Flippy and the others know about the contract, then Flaky will break away from his control, and as a result, he would have no influence on getting the two together. After all, Flaky would owe him nothing if good Flippy and Flaky got together on their own, or in spite of Evil Flippy's opposition. His view is that the relationship is inevitable, and nothing he could do could stop it. He might be right, he might be wrong, what's important is he thinks this is so. Besides, by this time, he is too committed to his plans to back out and change track.

As for Evil Flippy making Flaky into a good housewife, it's part of his plan to make her absolutely obedient, both to him and good Flippy. However, whether it would work, or is wise from Evil Flippy's point of view, remains to be seen.

To **SimpleBend, **well, I chose Lumpy to be Evil Flippy's antagonist because in the series, he was the only one that, (accidentally) evaded Evil Flippy's attempts (thrice!) and he was only killed once, and off screen, by Evil Flippy.


	9. Letters and Conspiracies

**Happy Tree Friends**

Before I start, I would like to encourage you all, if you still haven't, to watch _Without a Hitch,_ on YouTube or in the HTF official website. It is one of the best recent episodes, IMO, of the show!

**Chapter IX**

**Letters and Conspirac****ies**

"Flaky! What's up? What brings you here?" Petunia asked as she saw Flaky. It was two hours past noon, and Petunia was pleasantly surprised to see Flaky calling on her. "Oh where are my manners? Come in! Come in!"

"H-h-h-hi Petunia!" Flaky greeted timidly. She went in and sat on the couch.

"Wait here while I whip up some drinks. Is coffee okay?"

"Thanks," the red porcupine said.

Flaky looked around and saw that Petunia's house was spotless. Everything was literally shining; everything was in their proper place. Not a speck of dust could be seen, not a misplaced item can be found. It would please Evil Flippy, and Flippy. It was perfect.

"This coffee is one of the most delectable ever!" Petunia said as she handed Flaky a cup.

"It is very delicious," the porcupine agreed as she sipped her hot coffee.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Me? Well, I was wondering, well, you can clean very well, and as a result, everyone wants you to clean their homes, and—"

"You want to schedule a clean-up of your house? That could easily be arranged. And just for you, I'll give a special discount. What time is most convenient for you?"

"Um, no. It's not that. But it something to do with your cleaning service," Flaky said.

Now Petunia was curious. "Go on," she encouraged.

"Well, I'm not really got at cleaning and housekeeping and stuff, and so, um, can you teach how to be better at it?"

Petunia looked at Flaky with surprise. "What is the real reason for this?"

"Well, um, you see, well, I, well, er, because, I want, you know, to, uh, well—"

"Well, cough it up!"

"Well, I want to know how to clean Flippy's house, so that when we're together, um, well, he'll have me, I mean, as a favour to him, well, because, um, well, because I want to be a good wife, and anyway, well—" Flaky was nervous and embarrassed to tell her real reason, and so she stuttered, as she can't find a good way to tell the skunk. After all, there's no way she can tell her that it was Evil Flippy who's responsible!

"Oh I get it! I heard that Flippy is still holding back, and you want to clean his house as a way to show your love and to nudge him in the right direction!" Petunia concluded.

"Well, kinda like that," Flaky said.

"Well, okay. I'll be glad to help. When do you want to start?" asked the skunk.

"Is today convenient?"

"Luckily, I'm not doing anything today, so yeah. Well, for your first lesson in good housekeeping..."

And Petunia started Flaky on her lessons that day.

* * *

Evil Flippy, in his office, took a piece of paper, and began writing down his plans. However, as he was writing, he noticed other papers on the table with correspondence written in good Flippy's hand. He noticed that his own handwriting was identical with that of good Flippy as he compared the two.

He grinned. One of his problems just found its solution.

He took a blank piece of paper and furiously wrote a letter. At the end, he was proud of himself.

_My Dearest Flaky,_

_I apologize for taking so long to tell you this. My heart and soul wanted to tell you, but my head and common sense told me not to. I was afraid for you. I was afraid of what Evil Flippy might do to you if I told you. _

_But Evil Flippy, for reasons unknown to me, assured me that he won't hurt you, or prevent us from being together, and such._

_As such, I can't hold back much longer. _

_I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART! If it was possible to love someone with their entire body and soul, I love you so. _

_I always think of you, every waking moment, and in every dream I had while asleep. I want to be with you forever. I need to be at your side for the rest of our lives. Your presence is like the warm sun at day, and the bright stars at night. Your words, and your voice is like sweet music to my ears._

_I can only hope that you love me as I love you. _

_Sorry if I told you by letter. I am painfully shy, and I do not have the courage to tell you face to face. I am a coward. Tell me by letter your reply. Please. As soon as possible._

_Lovingly Yours,_

_Flippy, the lovesick veteran of the last war_

Evil Flippy looked at the letter. He was able to imitate Flippy's signature accurately. Nobody could tell that it was he who wrote it, because the handwriting is identical to his good side. Flaky would have no way of knowing that it was not good Flippy who wrote that letter when she reads it. The words _I LOVE YOU _ were written in very big letters that could but not draw attention.

It was undated, as Evil Flippy would drop it only when the time is right, only if good Flippy persist in his stubbornness. But as of now, he would keep it, and send it only as a last resort, if all fails to persuade his counterpart to act.

* * *

The next day...

Evil Flippy was pleased. Not only had he emerged early in the morning from another accident in the street, he had learned that Flaky had come under the wing of Petunia, who agreed to help in her cleaning skills in exchange for being an unpaid employee. The trick is getting good Flippy to agree to his plan. Flippy would never agree to such a one-sided agreement. But perhaps, he could be tricked.

He quickly called Sniffles over the intercom.

Sniffles got the fright of his life when he realized that Evil Flippy was his boss. "Evil Flippy, what are you doing here?"

"That's sir, to you, or boss, if you wish, but I'd prefer _boss,_" said the green bear. Normally, he would immediately have killed the nerdy anteater, but Sniffles is a co-employee of the museum, and his boss would have his head if he killed him. Luckily, he was of higher rank than Sniffles, or for that matter, all other employees except Lumpy. "Lumpy made it clear that whether in his good form or evil form, Flippy is the deputy manager, and in the moose's absence, I'm the top boss around here, right?" Evil Flippy said.

"Please don't kill me!" Sniffles begged as he fell on his knees.

"Ah, people on their knees begging for my mercy, how I love that. Anyway, you, Sniffles, work for me now, and you will do as I say, or I will fire you! And I will kill you afterwards, understand?" Evil Flippy snarled.

"Y-y-y-y-yes, sir," Sniffles said.

"Now, I want coffee, and make it black," said the bear.

A few minutes later...

"What kind of coffee is this? It's not even worth giving to the dead!" he said as he spat out the drink.

"It's a product of my latest invention, the ultra coffee maker 3000! It makes coffee from lettuce, sand, and dead cockroaches—" Sniffles proudly stated.

"No wonder it tasted terrible. Who would want to make coffee out of cockroaches anyway?" Evil Flippy snarled. "No wonder that roller coaster you designed got busted! For such a genius, you sometimes can be so stupid."

"I'm sorry," said the anteater. "I'll get you another coffee!"

"Nevermind. You might kill me with whatever concoction you might try on me," Evil Flippy sighed. "Now, do you have any way to contact Lumpy?"

"Well, I don't know where he works right now, but I do have his cell phone number," Sniffles offered.

"Good. Give it to me," said the bear.

Sniffles quickly wrote the number on a piece of paper.

"Give me your cell phone."

"My cell phone?"

"Yes. I'm going to use it to call Lumpy. Why, do you have any objections?"

"No. You can use it anytime you want!"

"Good. Now leave. I'll call you when I need you," said Evil Flippy.

Sniffles wasted no time in complying with that order.

"Hello," Lumpy spoke as he answered his phone.

"Boss, this is Evil Flippy."

"Evil who? And why do you call me boss?" the moose dumbly replied.

"I am Flippy, your deputy manager, whom you appointed to this position a few days ago!"

"What job is that again? I didn't appoint anyone to be deputy manager of the hospital, or my restaurant, you know!"

"Of the museum! Remember, you blackmailed me into serving you in exchange of not telling Flippy and the world of the contract between Flaky and me?"

"Blackmail? Is that what I did? Well, oh yeah! I remember! You killed Toothy that day at my office in the museum! So what I did to you is blackmail?"

"Yes. Anyway, boss, can I meet with you this lunch?"

"Why?"

"Something important. It's about Flaky, and good Flippy," said Evil Flippy, "and Petunia."

"Couldn't you tell it now, over the phone?"

"No."

"Okay. Meet me at the General Hospital."

* * *

Later, at lunch time...

Evil Flippy was greeted by Nurse Giggles, who was working for Lumpy the surgeon that day.

She was petrified with fear, uncertain if the request Flaky made to him not to kill her still stands.

"Flippy, what can I do for you?" she shivered.

"I have an appointment with Lumpy," said the green bear.

"Um, sorry, he's in a middle of an operation. Nutty has a heart attack and we're trying to save his life," Giggles said. "Will you wait?"

"No need for that," Lumpy, emerging from the operating room, said. "He'll live. Until he gets himself killed again."

"He lived?"

"Yup. Told you that washing his heart in the basin to wash off all those sugar will work. And you doubted me when I used a bicycle pump to keep him alive while you washed that heart! And putting a piece of toothpick in his heart to free up the clogged passageways also worked!" Lumpy boasted.

Evil Flippy cringed. He was glad he never had to be operated on by that dumb moose. What's more amazing is that sometimes, Lumpy's right and his patients live--like Disco Bear and the whale heart.

"Evil Flippy, what are you doing here?"

"I called you a while ago, remember?"

"When did you call me again? Oh never mind, I remember."

"Boss, can we talk _tête-à-tête_?"

"Huh?"

"It means a one-on-one talk, alone?"

"I'll leave you two now," Giggles nervously said as she left the room.

"Good."

"Now, my boy, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I need a favour," Evil Flippy began.

"Tell me what it is, and I'll think about it," Lumpy replied.

The bear asked for his favour, and to his surprise, Lumpy assented without any conditions. Lumpy was turning out to be pliable. He would be a useful tool for his purposes.

Later that afternoon...

Petunia carefully considered the letter she had received. It was interesting, to say the least.

_Petunia,_

_Congratulations on the success of your cleaning service._

_However, there were some anonymous complaints from some of your customers that your methods of cleaning and scrubbing were in violation of various health codes._

_Of course, I believe such things were baseless. I believe that you followed all laws and regulations. Thus, it cannot be imagined that your business will be forcibly shut down and you will be arrested because of such violations!_

_I'm going to send some inspectors, in my capacity as Public Health Officer, to see the basis of such complaints. Oh don't worry. I'm sure that you're innocent and they won't find anything illegal._

_Of course, it's my decision whether or not to shut you down, but I believe that won't be necessary._

_Now, in a totally unrelated matter, I need a favour from you._

_Word has reached me that you've hired Flaky as one of your cleaners. As you know, Flippy has been hired as my deputy manager for the museum. He works from eight to five. Thus, he cannot attend to the affairs of his house. I want Flaky to work there from seven-thirty to six from Monday to Saturday. The house must be kept spic and span, she must be totally obedient to Flippy in all regards to his home and household. The rest of the details I leave to you._

_Oh! By the way, whatever revenues Flaky gets from cleaning Flippy's house, a quarter should go to me. I expect a detailed accounting of the money that you receive from Flaky's service at Flippy's house._

_Sincerely_

_Dr. Lumpy, Chief Health Officer, Chief of Police, Head Surgeon, Head of the Hospital, Manager of the Museum, etc._

It was a thinly veiled threat from Lumpy, Petunia could not doubt. Petunia would do it, of course, but the problem is Flippy. She knows him well enough that he won't accept a one-sided arrangement. But she has to try.

As for the letter itself, it was typewritten. Lumpy clearly did not write it. Sniffles probably typed it, and Lumpy merely signed the letter. But there was no doubt that Lumpy was behind the idea. How he got his authority, his positions, and his influence, given his low intelligence, she had no idea. But Lumpy has it, and he has no hesitation on using it for his own advantage. Good thing he is dumb, or he really would be a tyrant. But despite all, he is a person with a good heart.

Flaky would be delighted, Petunia thought. This is what exactly she wants. And she is glad that she now has an official reason to help.

After this, she would talk to Sniffles to learn what this is all about.

Later that afternoon, at about six...

Good Flippy was relaxing at his home when he heard a knock on his door. He was surprised when he saw Petunia.

"Petunia! What brings you here?"

"Flippy, we have got to talk. It's about the cleaning service," Petunia said.

"Oh, well, I didn't miss a payment? I swear I paid all," Flippy insisted. "You did an excellent job!"

"Oh no, it's not that. You see, we're offering you a once in a lifetime chance. It's a bargain! For only twice as much payment, you can have constant attention to your house," Petunia explained.

"Twice? Well, I can easily afford it. But tell me more," said Flippy.

"Well, we have new employees, and since you are the customer who is always the most prompt in your payments, we decided to offer it to you first. The offer is that one of my workers will serve you for six days a week, from seven thirty to six, and that she will keep your house clean, serve your meals, do your laundry, and other things too. She'll do as you command, as long as it's legal and correct."

"That is good. And for only twice the usual rate. I'll take it!"

"Excellent! However, I need to remind you that this will only last until you get married," said Petunia.

"Married? Why?"

"Because such duties should taken over by your future wife," Petunia exclaimed. "Here's the contract. Read it carefully."

Flippy read its contents. "What? I can be held liable for $20,000,000 for breach of contract if I reneged for no good reason? And that you alone could select the person who will be my servant?"

"Yes. It's a serious matter. But I promise you to find you the person who I am sure will be most agreeable to you," the skunk said. "Don't you trust me? We are, after all, friends."

"Okay. I trust you will find someone who is trustworthy. But I must insist on the right to fire her if she commits a crime in my house! Or if she insults me in any way!"

"Oh that is already part of the contract," said Petunia.

"Well, I think there's nothing more to it," said Flippy as he got a pen and signed the contract. Petunia then signed too.

"Thank you very much. In two days time, she will arrive at seven-thirty in the morning to begin her duties," Petunia informed him. "See ya!"

* * *

Later...

Petunia was talking in cell phone. "Hello Lumpy? He bought it!"

"Who bought what?" asked the blue moose.

"Flippy! Remember the letter you sent me?"

"Oh yeah! I remember! Must have slipped my mind. Oh yeah. That thing about the complaints of your business, oh I junked it. And I'll send Sniffles over to you with a check for $20,000."

"Don't you mean $25,000?"

"Well, sure!"

Petunia chuckled. Lumpy could sometimes be so gullible.

* * *

Two days later...

Flippy had already dressed for work, and was only waiting for the arrival of the servant before he can leave. He trusted Petunia would assign someone who is honest, and competent. He already made a list of chores to do.

He was pleased when he heard a knock on the door, but was puzzled upon seeing Flaky standing outside.

"Flaky? Oh, you've come to visit! Sorry, but I've got work. Tell you what, why don't we go out for dinner later after work?"

"Oh I'd love to. But I'm not here to visit. Petunia sent me here," the porcupine explained. "I'm the one who will work here from seven thirty to six."

"What? But that's impossible! You can't work for me!"

"Well, I applied for a job in Petunia's cleaning service a few days ago, and she told me to come here because she said that you need someone honest and someone who you could trust to mind your house while you're at work," Flaky explained.

"This has got to be a mistake. I'll call Petunia." Flippy called the skunk on his cellphone. "Petunia! What is the meaning of this?! I can't have Flaky!"

"Why, don't you like her? I thought you wanted someone honest? We all know you like and trust her!" Petunia replied, who had to restrain herself from laughing.

"Yes! But we're dating for crying out loud! I can't have her under my beck and call! We're equal! It's not right! What will people say? This will cause a scandal!"

"Well, it's too late! I chose her and that's final!"

"You can't do this! I won't accept it!"

"Then prepare for a twenty million dollar lawsuit!"

"Okay. Is there any other way I can get out of this?"

"You can marry. Then the contract will have no effect. I did tell you that, right?"

"Yes! But I never expected you to choose Flaky!"

"Well, marry her then this will be all over with!" Petunia replied. "You like her, and she likes you! You two make a good match, don't you think?"

"Well, I'm going to court!" Flippy threatened.

"Lumpy is the only judge in town," Petunia said. "Good luck with that!"

Flippy turned to Flaky. Before Flippy could say anything, Flaky handed the bear a letter. "Petunia said to give this to you."

Flippy took it and read the letter.

_Flippy,_

_I have heard of the deal you made with Petunia, and let me tell you, it was a nice deal. You were looking for someone who is honest and trustworthy?_

_With this is mind, and with Petunia's concurrence, I heartily recommend Flaky. She's hardworking, honest, and trustworthy. But having dated her several times, I am sure that you do not need me to tell you that. However, I am so fond of her that I cannot resist telling you of her good qualities!_

_However, if Flaky didn't agree to this, I would not have agreed to make this recommendation. In fact, according to Petunia, she is very enthusiastic about it. She likes you, as you know, so it would be no problem. _

_I hope very much that you would be pleased with the arrangements that Petunia has made. Petunia told me that you are the most deserving of all citizens to get their new service offer, and that Flaky is the most deserving of her employees of the honor of serving the best citizen in town._

_I hope you and Flaky well._

_Lumpy_

Flippy was sure that it was either Sniffles, or Giggles, who actually typed this, but he had no doubt that the thoughts were Lumpy's. He was defeated. He cannot leave town to appeal over Lumpy's head, and he was going to lose if he sued Petunia in Lumpy's court. And to defy Lumpy over this would be tantamount to losing his comfortable and enjoyable job. And he cannot break Flaky's heart, if it was what she really wanted, by refusing.

What he didn't know was that it was Evil Flippy who started all of this.

He turned to Flaky, who had an uncertain look on her face. "Flaky, I really don't want you to do this, but my hands are tied. We are equal, and you shouldn't have to do this. Oh Flaky, I would detest the day when you are nothing more than a servant or a maid. You are not. You are meant for finer things in life."

Flaky beamed lovingly at him. "Flippy, believe me when I say that this is my choice, and that I do this not because I have to, but because I wanted to, because I needed to. Oh Flippy, I don't want the finer things in life! I am content, and happy, with who I am, and with what I have. Flippy, I asked Petunia that I wanted this, and she had the grace of heart to grant my request. I am sorry if you have been imposed upon, but I only wish the best, and all the happiness in the world, for you."

"Oh Flaky. Sometimes I wonder. If Evil Flippy did not exist, then things would be much simpler. Flaky, if you stay here, you are in danger. I have killed you before, and there's no doubt he would do so again. I don't want you to die, to suffer, because of me. Thank God that I have friends here who understands me! And thank God that in this town, death is not permanent. If it were not so, then I would be so lonely, so friendless, so miserable. You would be dead, and I would never have felt the pleasure of your company. But the pain of dying, especially if it is so gruesome, is too much! I cannot risk Evil Flippy inflicting such a horror to you! But you know of this, and still, you persist."

"I know. But I am sure that Evil Flippy would not kill me if he sees me here. He never killed me in the past few times he went out, even if he had every opportunity. I am confident that he won't."

"Yes. Yes. But can you blame me if I fear for your life?"

"No. But in this town, as you know, fear for one's life, is not a great a terror, given the temporary nature of it. Cuddles died more than fifty times, and he is not affected whatsoever. Lumpy has killed times than twice that of you, and Evil Flippy, and he still is highly regarded. Splendid is not reproached for his kills, and is idolized by a lot of people. Petunia has died the most horrible deaths, yet she is stable, sane, and happy."

Flippy quickly changed topics. "Flaky, Flaky. You know it gives me great pleasure to see you, and I would welcome every moment that my eyes is upon you, but it cannot be under such circumstances as this! Don't lower yourself! Don't abase yourself to me, or to anyone else! "

"But I'm not. This is my job. I am to be paid with high salaries by Petunia for this work. Doing this job for you only makes it sweeter, and makes the work lighter, than if it were anyone else," Flaky argued.

"Very well then," Flippy sighed in defeat. "It would be unkind of me if I deprive you of the means of earning a living. You are obligated to be here for much of the day, until five or six? Well, if you ever tire, or just don't feel like working, feel free to just lay around the house. You can watch TV, read my books, sleep in my couch, or in the bed in the guest room. You can do nothing, and leave the house dirtier than before, and it would be perfectly okay to me. Consider yourself a guest, not a servant, in my home. And I'll still pay Petunia what I promised."

"Thank you. But I wouldn't want to abuse your kindness and hospitality."

"Well, if you must, then I won't stop you. You have been here lots of times. You know my habits and how I like my house arranged. I don't think I need to tell you what exactly to do, right?"

"You don't, Flippy. Oh, have you had breakfast?"

"No."

"Then I must—"

"No need. I'm not that hungry. As it is, I'm already late. But I'll be eating lunch here. Bye!"

* * *

In another part of town...

"Little brother, how about having another go at Flippy's place? Remember that? It was so full of expensive things, that we'll be rich if we swiped it all!" Shifty suggested.

Shifty and Lifty were in their secret hideout planning their next big heist. They had just been resurrected after being murdered by Evil Flippy just two days ago.

"Are you crazy, brother? Remember what happened last time we tried it? You were skinned alive for crying out loud! I don't want to even look at that place!" Lifty protested. "And we've just been revived from the dead! Do you want to die again?"

"Listen, I have a plan!"

"Oh another of your plans? I don't want to die!"

"Look, we won't rob him in the night. It's too dangerous. We rob him during the day."

"So we rob him in broad daylight, while he is awake? You're bonkers! You're mad as a hatter!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Shifty growled as he hit his brother's head. "I happen to know that Flippy has a job. He works from eight to five, five days a week. Which means there is no one at his house. He'll be at the museum the entire day! We'll have his house all to ourselves! By the time he arrives, we'll be long gone!"

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? Are you sure there's nobody in that house of his?" Lifty asked.

"Nobody."

Lifty snickered. "Well then, we better prepare the truck!"

"I knew you'll see it my way, brother!" Shifty snickered with him.

End of chapter

To **Evil Flippy, **well, that scene was more inspired by the HTF episode, _Wrong Side of the Tracks_. But I've watched _Final Destination 3_ too.

To **Laurentius Berry, **oh yes. But he is learning, as this chapter shows, how he can get his way without resorting to his usual methods. He is acting strangely. He notices it, yet he cannot find out why. His behaviour in the past few days disgusts him, but he thinks all of it are necessary to the completion of his plans.

Well, in an ideal world (For Evil Flippy), Flaky wouldn't exist, and he still controls the pace of good Flippy's life. He has tried before (this story started) to break them apart, and failed, so he concluded (rightly or wrongly) that he cannot separate them. He wants them to break apart, but thinks that it is futile, unproductive, and would only lead to his oblivion, to try to make it so.

Well maybe he wants them together, but in such a way that he'll retain ultimate control. After all, he's aim at this point in the story is to make sure Flaky (and Flippy) would feel that they owe Evil Flippy for their happiness, and as a result, he would cement her hold on Flaky. He feels that if they come together in spite of his opposition, it would be all over for him, or at least his influence. At least if Flaky's indebted to him, he can control, through her, Flippy's actions. After all, Flaky swore, that if they were together, and married, she would obey Evil Flippy's commands. And in this chapter, he finds that he can use Lumpy as well to bend good Flippy to his will.

Well, thanks for the compliments. I'm sorry if I cannot update more often, but I am also busy with other things.

To **Little Miss Misery, **well, I based Lumpy's bossiness in the episodes _Change of Heart, Mime to Five, See What Develops _and _We're Scrooged._ He's greediness is also shown in _Mime to Five, _ and in _We're Scrooged._


	10. Burglaries

**Measures of Acceptability**

First of all, I want to apologize for the delay in updating. I know, it's been a long time. I've been very busy in the past two months that it is only now that I have time to update. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.

**Chapter X**

**Burglaries**

It has been one week since Flaky got hired as Flippy's maid...

"You told me that the house is going to be empty!" Lifty complained as both raccoons looked at the window and saw Flaky cleaning the house.

"I know. But so what? It's only Flaky? She's a scaredy-cat!" Shifty asked.

"I'd prefer if we don't have company," Lifty answered.

"So do I! But Flippy isn't around here," Shifty said. "And she's alone."

"So?"

"And helpless!"

"Oh I see! So what do we do?"

Later...

Flaky was sitting on a chair looking on indignantly as Shifty and Lifty robbed the place. She would have screamed, or called the police or Flippy, or ran out of the door, if she wasn't bound and gagged in the chair. Her hands were tightly tied behind the back of the chair at the wrists. She was tied at the knees and the ankles, and long rope bound her to the chair at the waist, the chest, and her lap. She mouth was stuffed with two pairs of handkerchiefs, and held in place by duct tape wrapped around her head over her mouth.

"Ah! I've always dreamed of getting this loot ever since the first time we robbed him!" Shifty expressed as he put some goblets in the many boxes that the raccoons brought with them.

"Who knew it was so easy?" Lifty said as he sealed the boxes that were already full. "That porcupine is the easiest one yet! She gave no fight as we tied her up!"

"Oh yes! Won't Flippy be surprised to find his house absolutely empty when he comes back?"

"Won't he figure that it was us that robbed him? It'll be terrible if he comes after us!" Lifty said, worried.

"What'll he do? Kill us? So what? We'll just hide his stuff where he can't find it, and go back to it after we've been resurrected," Shifty explained.

"Oh!"

"Do you think the truck can hold all these things?" Shifty asked.

"If it doesn't, we'll just go back. It's only eleven in the morning, and Flippy won't be back till five!" Lifty answered.

Suddenly, the door opened. It was Pop and Cub.

"Morning Flaky! I know you are busy, but would you take Cub for the day. So you see I was—. Oh God! Flaky! What's happening? Shifty! Lifty!"

"And if you know what's good for you you'll go right in that chair over there and be nice and quiet," Shifty threatened as he brandished his knife at the father son duo.

"Oh I think I'll leave now!" said the father stepping back.

However, the door was blocked by Lifty. "You ain't going anywhere! You'll tell the cops if we let you go!"

"Oh I promise I won't tell anyone!" said Pop, scared.

"Give me the baby," Shifty commanded. "It'll be an insurance against you doing anything funny!"

"Oh no! You can't have Cub!" Pop said.

"Give him to me," said Shifty as he grabbed Cub.

"No, you can't have him!" Pop said stubbornly.

The two engaged in a tug-of-war for Cub, until Pop's fingers slipped. Shifty's momentum caused him to fall on the floor, causing him to throw Cub in the process. Cub flew and hit the wall. He died upon impact, his blood splattering around the wall.

"Cub! Cub!" Pop shouted as he ran towards the body of his son. He cried as he hugged the corpse.

"Listen! Come over here and we'll tie you up. Don't do anything rash and we won't hurt you!" Shifty commanded.

"You killed Cub!" Pop shouted. He spotted a poker scattered on the floor. He quickly picked it up and ran towards Lifty. "You killed my son!" he shouted as he swung the iron instrument towards the hatless raccoon. Lifty tried to run away, but it was too late. The instrument hit him in the chest and pierced his heart. Pop withdrew the instrument, removing the still beating heart in the process. He turned towards Shifty.

"Look! It wasn't our fault. Others killed your son too!" Shifty tried to reason as he backed up towards the back door.

"You will pay!" Pop shouted as he charged the fedora wearing raccoon. Shifty tried to run but tripped over a piece of spoon. Before he could get up, Pop was upon him. Ignoring Shifty's shouts for mercy, Pop mauled him to death using the poker.

It was a few minutes later when Pop came back to his senses. He had cried his heart out, and there is nothing to do but wait for Cub to be alive again. Flaky watched the entire event with horror. She had never seen Pop kill on purpose. But she understood. She sat quietly until Pop could compose his thoughts. When it seems that he won't snap out of it, she grunted loudly through her gag. She sympathized with the bear, but she wanted to be untied.

The sound of Flaky pulled Pop back to reality. "Oh I'm sorry. I forgot," he sheepishly said. But before he could untie the porcupine, his head suddenly slid off his body. He had been decapitated.

"It's a pity I didn't get to kill those two thieves," Evil Flippy casually said as he looked at Pop. He was holding a sword with bloodstains on it. Pop's headless body slumped to the side. He looked at Flaky. "I suppose I can't leave you like that. But I think I'll do. Good Flippy should be the one to rescue you, I think. It'll be more dramatic, and he'll realize how much he loves you once he sees you're in danger. I should have done this a long time ago. But it needs to be realistic, don't you think? Those raccoons did a terrible job at your bindings! Why, a blind mole could easily have escaped! I'm surprised that you haven't! But we'll fix that."

He laughed easily as he disappeared to his room. Flaky now was frightened. She knew that he promised to refrain from hurting her, but his actions gave her the creeps. He came back with yards of thick rope. After the veteran was done with her, she was covered with rope from ankle to neck, secured to the heavy chair, but with some of her quills sticking out.

"And now, to fix the evidence!" Evil Flippy cackled as the wheels turned on his brain. He took placed the sword that he used on Pop and placed it on Shifty's right hand. On the left he placed the poker that Pop used to kill the raccoons. He then impaled the dead body of Shifty on Flaky's quills. The porcupine squirmed, disgusted, as Evil Flippy made sure the body was stuck on her quills.

"Now listen here and listen good! Here's our story. Pop came in to give Cub for you to babysit, right? Lifty and Shifty decided to enter, tied you up, and killed Pop and Cub. Then Shifty got greedy and killed his brother. But Shifty got clumsy and slipped on blood dripping behind you and slipped and got impaled as a result. Got it?"

Flaky was now crying.

"Don't cry. You'll get stuffy nose and since your mouth is packed, you'll choke," Evil Flippy warned. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a bite to eat, and left.

Flaky felt her nose get stuffy, so she willed herself to stop crying. Still, she was frightened. What if someone bad decided to break in the house? She would be helpless. This was Evil Flippy's most audacious stunt, and one that Flaky hated the most. Would this result in anything good? She doubted it.

It was five hours later when she heard the voices of Flippy and Sniffles talking as the two approached the door.

"What a day, huh, Sniffles? I mean there's just so much work, and so little time. I'm beginning to regret getting a job, but all in all, it's better than doing nothing."

"Well, now you have only one job," Sniffles said. "Wait until you have lots of jobs and you switch around all the time. The only thing that's sure is that Lumpy would be mostly likely our boss!"

Flippy just laughed as he opened the door, then stopped. For a moment, he was stunned. It was too much. He flipped. Evil Flippy only smiled when he saw Flaky and let good Flippy take control. "Flaky! Oh my God!" shouted the green bear. "Sniffles, get the police!"

Sniffles saw Flaky and quickly went to the police station.

Flippy quickly extracted Shifty from Flaky's quills, and untied her. "Flaky, oh God!" he said as he hugged her. "What, what happened? Are you okay? Please be okay," he cried.

Flaky cried on Flippy's shoulder. "It was horrible, it was terrible," she sobbed. "It was, oh Flippy, I was so scared."

"I'm here. Don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to you," said Flippy. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. Believe me."

"I know. I know," Flaky replied.

Flippy waited until she had sufficiently calmed before he asked his question. "What happened?"

Flaky debated what to tell Flippy, until she decided to tell him the story that Evil Flippy concocted. "Well, Pop came here to ask me to babysit Cub, when those two thieves broke in. They tied me up and…" she stopped. It felt terrible that she had to lie, but felt she had no choice. "They killed Pop and Cub. They began to rob the house. Shifty got greedy, and killed his brother. But then he slipped on the blood and impaled himself on my quills."

It was a lie, but Flippy believed her. There seemed no other explanation for the events. Even though the raccoons normally do not kill when they rob, Shifty killed his brother once, and they caused the deaths of their victims more than once when robbing people.

"Alright people, what is going on here," they heard a loud obnoxious voice. Flippy and Flaky looked at who arrived. It was Lumpy in his uniform as Chief of Police of Happy Tree Town. He spoke with arrogant authority that dared anyone to challenge him—and face the consequences. Besides him was Sniffles.

Flippy didn't know how to address the moose. Was it chief? But he was also his boss at the museum? Should it be boss? Flippy decided to use sir instead.

"Sir, Shifty and Lifty attempted to rob my house. Flaky was here as my housekeeper. They tied her up. Pop came to have Cub babysat, but they were killed in the course of the robbery. Lifty was killed by Shifty, and Shifty met an accident with Flaky's quills."

"How do you know that? Were you slacking off from work?" Lumpy, who was Flippy's boss as well as the Chief of Police, asked.

"Um, no sir. Flaky just told me what happened. I just arrived," Flippy explained.

"Well then, Flaky, tell me in your own words what happened," Lumpy ordered. "Or I might throw you all in jail as being suspects in this."

Nobody could doubt that he could do it. Everybody remembers when the moose imprisoned Handy and the Mole for car theft even if he had no proof. Both were shackled, and both were killed while trying to escape.

"Well sir," Flaky began as she looked at her one-time teacher, "I was cleaning Flippy's house this morning when…" Flaky paused. She is beginning to have second thoughts about lying. She is not by nature a liar, and she could be in trouble in she was caught. But she had no choice.

"Wait! We need someone to record this. Sniffles, get Splendid!" Lumpy ordered.

"The superhero?"

"No you idiot! Not Splendid the superhero, but Splendid the reporter who works for me at _the Daily Acorn_! You know, the flying squirrel who looks just like the superhero, has the same name, but could not possibly be the same guy as Splendid the superhero!" Lumpy shouted.

"Yes sir," Sniffles as he quickly went out to fetch the flying squirrel.

He returned ten minutes later with Splendid. Splendid was in civilian garb. He was wearing a hat, a tie, and thick eyeglasses—with his red mask under the glasses. Nobody suspected that he was the same Splendid who flies around saving the day and killing everyone in the process.

"Yes, boss," Splendid said to Lumpy. He was shocked by the scene before him. "Splendid. I want you to write the story of this story. I want you to write that I came here because of a call from Sniffles, and that I heroically investigated the event, and that I will catch the criminal who did this! Understand?"

"Yes sir," Splendid said as he took his small notebook and began writing.

"Um Flaky, um, what am I suppose to ask you again?" Lumpy asked. "Oh yes. I'm here to ask you why you think Handy's hands were permanently amputated, and what is Mole's role in it?"

"Huh? Don't you mean what happened here?" Flippy asked.

"Oh yes. Sorry, I forgot. Okay Flaky, the floor is yours," Lumpy said.

The blood soaked Porcupine looked at the group and gulped. She hates lying, but now she felt, she has no choice. Of course, Pop and Shifty and Lifty would soon be resurrected, and she would be exposed. She felt everything is going to pieces.

"Well, I came here early in the morning, just before Flippy went to work, to do my duties as a housekeeper. Flippy left and, well, Flippy is such a neat guy, that there isn't much to clean after. I cleaned a little, and started cooking, when Pop came asking me to babysit Cub." Flaky again stopped. It is now or never.

With a quavering voice, in a low tone barely heard whisper, she continued her narration. She looked at her lap, as she never could look them in the eye. "Shifty and Lifty came and tied me up, then killed Pop and Cub. Shifty killed his brother to get all the loot. Shifty then slipped on some of the blood that had dripped before and accidentally got himself impaled on my quills. Then, I remained tied up until Flippy returned home to untie me." She then cried.

Splendid watched with sympathy. Still, he has a few questions to ask. "Flaky, if you don't mind me asking a few questions, I'm a journalist, after all, whose blood did Shifty slip on?"

"I think that is Shifty's blood," Flaky said.

"No. It can't be his blood," Splendid replied.

"Why not?" asked Lumpy.

"Well, sir, he was the one who slipped in the first place," said Splendid.

"I think it might be Pop's blood," Sniffles suggested.

"I don't think so," said Lumpy. "Now that I think about it, well, Pop's blood did not flow towards Flaky."

All of them went to the living room—the scene of the crime. "I don't see any point in this. They'll just come back. And no one will be convicted for murder in this town," Sniffles grumbled. "And even if Shifty and Lifty got sentenced for theft, it would be naught when they die, because a life sentence is exactly that—you go to jail until you die, and then, when you're resurrected, you're free because you've served your sentence!"

"Just the same, we need to know so that we can assign responsibility for the deaths. If only to rack up our death-kill tallies and make bragging rights," Lumpy explained. "Who knows? Maybe someday, one of you will exceed my number of kills!"

Splendid looked at Lumpy with shock, but knew he had no right to object. He, Lumpy , Flippy, Mole and Pop between them has more kills than the rest of the tree friends combined.

The living room was the same as when Flippy arrived, with the exception of Shifty's body being on the floor instead of being impaled on Flaky's quills.

"See, I told you so," the police chief exclaimed as he pointed Pop's dead body. Look at the blood! Pop's close to where Flaky was, but it flowed away from her!"

All of them looked at the bodies and concurred. "I may have been mistaken," Flaky confessed.

Sniffles went and examined the bodies. He took out his magnifying glass and a small notebook and began taking some notes. "Hm. Aha! Interesting! Well, well, well! Well! This is a surprise!" He took an instrument from his pocket and began poking the bodies with it.

After a few minutes, the others became impatient. "Well?" Lumpy exclaimed. "What have you got?"

"Flaky, could I look at your quills?" the bespectacled anteater asked.

The porcupine nodded and Sniffles began his examination.

After a few minutes, the anteater sighed, shook his head. "Lumpy, sir, could you please ask Flaky to tell her story? Again? Flaky, we're all you're dear friends. We only want what's best you. Please tell the truth. Be honest. We know that what you went through was tough."

"And Flaky," Lumpy added. "This is an official police investigation. If you lie, and we catch you, then you'd be charged, um, Splendid, what charge is it exactly?"

"Um, sir, I think it's obstruction of justice, and obstructing police investigation," Splendid offered.

"Yeah, that's it," Lumpy said. "Now Flaky, tell it all again, and please, tell it as you saw it."

"Flippy?" Flaky turned to the bear.

"It's okay. I trust you," Flippy smiled as he took her hand. "Just tell what happened."

Flaky looked at them and cried. She was in a terrible fix. She could get in real trouble. Actually, she's in real trouble already, and nothing seems to be able to get her out of it.

"Flaky, it's okay. Maybe you should come back tomorrow. She's too upset to talk about it," Flippy offered.

"Yes. Tomorrow would be okay," said Lumpy. "Well, what are you waiting for? Clean up this bloody mess! Oh yes. You two, read this statement." He handed Flaky and Flippy two pieces of paper.

"Well?" Lumpy asked, waiting.

"Sir, we've got to read this? Aloud!"

"Yes! Any objections?"

"No sir," Flippy said.

"_Thank you, police chief Lumpy. You're such a great police officer," _Flaky read aloud. "_Because of you, I feel safer, and I feel the town is better because of your actions tonight_."

Flippy rolled his eyes but read it anyway. "_I feel that Mr. Lumpy has rescued the situation. He is calm, cool, and because of his actions, things have stabilized. I feel that this case would soon be resolved and justice would be delivered_."

"You wouldn't mind if I put those quotes in the newspaper and attribute it to you two?" asked Lumpy.

Flippy and Flaky knew better than to defy the moose. "No. What we said expressed how we felt," Flippy, with his fingers crossed behind his back, said.

"Hear that, Splendid? I want those quotes put in the story for tomorrow's paper!" Lumpy practically shouted.

Splendid sighed but simply said "Yes sir."

Later…

"Okay, Sniffles, what did you find out?" Splendid asked in Lumpy's _Daily Acorn_ office.

"Flaky lied," Sniffles said.

"Lied?" Lumpy asked. "What about?"

"Shifty's head was bludgeoned, and he was already dead when he was impaled on Flaky's quills," Sniffles said. "His skull was crushed. The holes in the body of the raccoon as a result of his impalement was made when he was already dead."

"So what you're telling us is that it wasn't Shifty who killed the others?" asked the moose.

"I'm not sure, but somebody killed Shifty," he said.

"So Flaky is protecting the killer. But why?" Lumpy asked.

"It's simple. Flaky is protecting Flippy!" Splendid replied. "Flaky loves Flippy, and he doesn't want to say bad things about him. Flippy obviously is the one responsible—like always."

"Evil Flippy you mean," Sniffles replied. "I understand it, but why Evil Flippy? I mean Flaky doesn't like him! He hates him! And she knows good Flippy doesn't want anything to do with Evil Flippy!"

"I know, but perhaps she is protecting Evil Flippy for good Flippy's sake?" Splendid wondered. "I don't know. But it makes the most sense. Anyway, this is what I think happened. Flaky is cleaning the house. Pop came in to give Cub to Flaky but were interrupted by Shifty and Lifty. They tie Flaky. However, before they could do the same to Pop, Evil Flippy came in and killed Shifty, Lifty, Pop, and Cub. He decided to cover up his tracks by framing the two for Pop's murder, and making it look like Shifty's death is accidental."

"Look, all this is just crazy talk," Lumpy interjected. "Splendid, you won't write any of this in the paper! You will write Flaky's story as she told it and nothing that go against it. At least for tomorrow's paper."

"But the truth—" Sniffles protested.

"Is not certain," Lumpy finished. "After you write the story, go and interview Pop, Shifty and Lifty as soon as they have been resurrected. And if what they say is the same as your prattle, then we'll write the story."

"I see. We shouldn't rush to conclusions," Splendid agreed.

"Sniffles, go write a column on how you believe Flaky's innocent and how evil Shifty and Lifty are. Make no mention of Evil Flippy. Got it?"

"But, sir, I can't! I don't believe that!"

"You will write it or I'll fire you in this job and in any other job you hold in this town, and you won't get any ever! Understood?" Lumpy threatened.

Sniffles sighed in defeat. "I'll write the column."

"Look, I know this is difficult, writing something that can turn out to be untrue, but remember, Flaky is our friend. She is not just some random victim out there. If what your saying turns out to be true, then Flaky has made some serious mistakes. It's bad enough that she has to live with it, but what if everybody else knows? It would be a nightmare. And what if we print what we suspected tonight, and it turns out that it isn't the case? She would be ruined. We would have smeared her, and for nothing," Lumpy explained.

"I agree, " Splendid added. "Sir, will you permit me to investigate this? I'll interview Shifty, Lifty, and Pop and get to the bottom of this. And we still have to ask Flaky the question, so that we'll know if she'll back her statement."

Lumpy nodded.

"What if she really is guilty? What if she really is in cahoots with Evil Flippy? Should we publish the story?" Sniffles asked.

"We'll see," the moose replied. "Now for some good ole' cigar!" Lumpy reached out a cigar, lighted it, and put it on his mouth.

"Sir! That's not a cigar! Its dynamite!" shouted Splendid.

"Silly Splendid. It's my cigar, the one that I—oh my God, you're right!" Lumpy shouted. He threw it out the window. Seconds later there was a loud explosion. All three blue animals looked out the window.

"Cuddles is dead," Sniffles observed.

"And so is Toothy, Giggles, Petunia, and Russell," Splendid added.

"Well, Splendid, write another story to that one. Don't mention me. Say it was a mysterious accident. Got that?"

"Yes sir," Splendid said.

"That lettuce has switched the cigars and dynamite in my drawers again!" Lumpy ranted. And for the next few minutes, the anteater and the flying squirrel listened to his rant about lettuces and treachery.

Meanwhile…

It was night at Flippy's house, and Flaky was too frightened to go home.

"Flaky, it's okay. I'm going to protect you," Flippy comforted.

"I'm scared. What if they come back? They'll be back!" Flaky rambled as she shivered in fright. "How I wish this nightmare would end!"

"It will. I promise you that!" Flippy softly said.

"I've always been scared! Ever since I came to this town. Nothing seems to go right. I've died thirty times and more! I've lost count! And I cannot get used to it! I can't!"

"Death is nothing here," comforted Flippy. "If it is, I'd be in an insane asylum, as all my friends would be gone because of me."

"Why does everything have to happen to me? Why?" Flaky cried. "All I want is to be safe, to be happy! Is that too much to ask? Did I commit some grave sin that I cannot be happy? Am I bound to be lonely forever? I don't want to die!"

"Flaky, you're not alone. You have your friends! Cuddles, Toothy, heck even Lumpy, are your friends! They make your life happy! They do all they can to make brighter! And they take your mind off death!" It was ironic, Flippy noted, as those friends, especially Lumpy, caused most of her deaths. Still, they meant well.

"I know. They make my life bearable! They make me feel accepted, they make me feel at home, and I'll never forget their kindness. But happy? Only one person has made me happy here in this town. You!"

Flaky was surprised at her own boldness, while Flippy was taken aback. "How could I? I killed you many times!"

"Not you. You could never do that," said Flaky. "You only killed me when flipped. You know I'll never blame you for that!"

"Except when we were stuck on that island, and I, well, Lumpy, Sniffles, Handy and I well, we killed you," Flippy replied. "And I'm not even flipped!"

"That was a long time ago," said Flaky. "All of you've said sorry, and I forgave you all. But since that time, oh you were so good to me. I can never forget your kindness!"

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other. Flippy looked at Flaky. She was so scared, vulnerable, yet beautiful and golden. It broke his heart to see her in such a wretched state. He realized something.

"Flaky, I don't know how to tell you this, but, ever since that day in the island, well, how could I say it? I realized now that I felt this way, well, since that day. Now I know. I've not been completely honest with you in denying it, looking at it as mere friendship, when it was clearly more. I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life besides you. O how I love you, Flaky. I'm very sorry that it took me so long, that I have been blind!"

Flaky looked up at the battle scarred veteran, happiness evident in her eyes. "I love you! Oh Flippy, you made this the happiest night of my life!"

The two kissed.

Later that night…

Flaky was so happy that it temporarily buried the fear that was haunting her. She went back to her house, despite the concern of Flippy for her safety. She insisted she was fine, and that she would go back tomorrow to resume her cleaning duties. Flippy tried to dissuade her out of the cleaning contract, but she would have none of it.

She had been asleep for about an hour when a voice woke her up. "Well, well, well, aren't we the happy camper?" it mocked.

Flaky woke up and saw the silhouette of Flippy against the moonlight of her window. But it wasn't his voice. It was Evil Flippy.

"What are you doing here? Haven't you done enough harm?" Flaky asked.

"Harm? I don't think so," said Evil Flippy. "I made you happy, didn't I?"

"Happy? You left Shifty stuck on my quills, and you left me tied up with Pop and Lifty! I was never so frightened in my life!" she replied.

"Yeah, that bit really scared you, didn't it?" said Evil Flippy. "But it accelerated a process that otherwise would have gone at a snail's pace. Really, that good counterpart of mine is slow. It made him face the truth that had been staring him squarely in the face the past few weeks!"

"You planned all this? Shifty, Pop, Lifty, all of them?" asked an astonished Flaky.

"No, no," Evil Flippy laughed. "It was an off the cuff moment. I only wanted to have a bite for lunch. I never expected those two raccoons. And I most certainly did not expect Pop to kill those two nincompoops! And it worked!"

"Yes, but do you have to make me lie? Nobody would give a hoot if they found out that you were the one who killed Pop! What will happen if they found out that I lied because you told me too? They'll find out about our contract too! And it will be all gone! Gone I tell you!" Flaky shouted. Then she broke down. "I knew it's too good to be true! I saw their faces! Sniffles, Lumpy, Splendid! They knew I was lying! When Shifty, Lifty, and Pop goes back to life, it'll be over! I'll be forever ruined!"

"Yes. And you know what? Once Flippy finds out you've sold your soul to me, it'll be over with you two as well," said Evil Flippy.

"He wouldn't!" she protested.

"Yes, he would! One thing he hates is betrayal of trust and what you did is to him betrayal on so many levels," said Evil with a smile.

"No, you don't know him!" she shrieked. "I'm going to tell him everything!"

"If you think he'll just brush over it, then I'm afraid, dear Flaky, that it is you who apparently didn't know him!" he laughed. "But don't fret. I won't tell him. I made a promise, after all. It's not yet complete, but, the moment you turn your back on me, I'll make sure, well, I don't need to tell you what I'll do. I'm sure you already know."

"What do you want?" Flaky asked. "You've already ruined my life!"

"Ruined? Not yet, but if you keep this up, it'll be so. What do I want? Well, a few weeks ago I might have gleefully fed Flippy this information and laughed as you two crash and burn, but now? I think I enjoy having you at my beck and call! It's less fun than mindless killing, but it's good to see someone say jump, and they ask, 'how high?'" he said. "Other than that, I won't say another word."

"I'm still ruined!" she said. "The only thing good about this is that if Flippy and I break up over this, then you would have broken the contract and I will be free of you!"

"True, but he still doesn't know. Now, you want to keep this a secret, or not?" said Evil Flippy.

"I do."

"Good. Now, if they ask you what happened, you are to repeat the story. Shifty and Lifty killed Pop and Cub, Shifty killed his brother, Shifty accidentally got impaled on your quills. Got it?"

"Yes, but it will all crash when those three go back to life, and what of Lumpy, Sniffles, Splendid?"

"Lumpy is a dumb moose who can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Sniffles is a genius who has no common sense, while Splendid is an incompetent newsman whose only claim to notability is he happened to have the same species and name as that superhero of ours! They are no problem at all."

"Really, I don't think it's wise to—"

"Now, listen here, and listen good," Evil Flippy declared. "I'm going to visit those raccoons, and Pop, as soon as they are alive, and I'm going to make sure they sing the right tune when the authorities come asking them questions. And with this town's collective intelligence, they'll swallow anything! Goodnight, and bye!"

Evil Flippy left Flaky's house with a swagger. He exuded malign confidence, yet he was not so cocky. He knew he made a mistake. He never should have played with the corpses, and tell Flaky to tell an outrageous lie. It was an act of impulse, something that he never really thought about. He thought that only Flippy would know. But the idiot had to call the police, and Flaky had to tell the lie to Lumpy, Splendid and Sniffles. His plans are fast maturing, and he cannot afford that Flaky would be exposed. It accelerated Flippy and Flaky's relationship, but everything is now being threatened. He laughed. At least he won't need to deliver the phony 'love letter' that he made.

But he was confident he could master this problem, if only because of the quality of his adversaries. Pop, Shifty, and Lifty would be pushovers, and he is sure he could coerce them into singing his tune. As for the investigators, he had nothing but contempt. Lumpy is the one who he deemed the most formidable, but he already knows about the contract, and has an interest in keeping it quiet, so he's not a problem. Sniffles is easily intimidated and a wimp. Splendid? If he was the superhero, then it might be a problem, but as it is, Splendid is only the hero's namesake. Splendid the newspaperman is barely worth mentioning.

Author Notes

To **Broken Hearted Bible, **Lumpy isn't the most charitable moose in the world

To **SimpleBend,** thank you.

To **angelofmusic, **well, I did.

To **Laurentius Berry, ** yes, it was clumsy, but in real life, many do sign such contracts even knowing the consequences. As for Lumpy, well, the reason he gave in is, well, who knows what's going on in his tiny brain of his. Yup, it was a nice scheme, and it worked, but now, Evil Flippy really needs to have the wheels on his brain to turn.

To **Nitocolus, **thanks.

To **Hattfriend,** thank you.


	11. The Unravelling

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter XI  
**

**The Unravelling**

It was two days after the murders on Flippy's house. Most of the town, thanks to the _Daily Acorn_'s newspaper accounts, believed that the matter was settled. For Lumpy, Splendid, and Sniffles, however, this day was heavily anticipated, as they were eagerly awaiting the revival of Shifty, Lifty, Pop, and Cub. They would answer all lingering questions about the events of that awful day.

It was morning in Shifty and Lifty's apartment. Shifty woke up with a terrible pain on his body. He shook his head, trying to remember how he died. He chuckled. He still can't believe Pop killed him and his brother. Maybe next time, he should ditch his knife and carry a pistol instead.

"I can't believe that old man killed us! Who knew he could go ballistic if you killed his son?" Lifty commented as he woke up.

"We didn't even kill Cub! That brat was killed by an accident, and he blamed us!" Shifty added. He went and took the morning paper just outside the door. There were actually two papers—for the day before and today. He first flipped through the newspaper from the day before to read what they did.

The fedora wearing raccoon's eyes widened as he saw the headline. "Lifty, come here, you won't believe what they are writing these days!" he shouted as he read the article.

His brother's excited tone turned Lifty's head, and he began to get curious. "What can they write about that is shocking? Are they cloning cows to eat meat?" he replied with feigned enthusiasm.

After a few minutes, Shifty tossed the newspaper to his brother. "Read it!" he ordered.

Lifty lazily picked up the paper and was surprised. "Oh my God!"

The article that he read was as follows.

* * *

**FOUR KILLED IN ATTEMPTED ROBBERY**

**SHITY AND LIFTY ARE THE KILLERS**

By Splendid the Reporter

An attempted robbery of Flippy's house turned tragic when Pop, Cub, Shifty, and Lifty were killed. According to Flaky, who survived the ordeal, Shifty and Lifty killed Pop and Cub. Shifty, in his greed to take all of the loot for himself, killed his brother. Shifty then got himself killed when he slipped on a pool of blood and got himself impaled on Flaky's quills.

The news first broke out when Sniffles the anteater entered the office of out great and revered Police Chief Lumpy the Moose. Lumpy was in the hospital operating on the Mole's eye (more on this story in page 7) when the news hit. The great surgeon quickly wrapped up his operation, and handed him over to Nurse Giggles the Chipmunk. Chief Lumpy donned his police uniform, and went to the scene of the crime.

"It was terrible, it was terrible," Flaky shrieked as she recounted how she was tied up to the chair for more the seven hours.

"This is a terrible day," Flippy the War Veteran, told reporters of the _Daily Acorn._ "They have robbed my house before, but then, they got their just deserts. Now, they went too far. Thank God Lumpy is here. I feel that Lumpy has rescued the situation. He is calm, cool, and because of his actions, things have stabilized. I feel that this case would soon be resolved and justice would be delivered."

Flaky concurred. "I feel that Lumpy has rescued the situation. He is calm, cool, and because of his actions, things have stabilized. I feel that this case would soon be resolved and justice would be delivered."

Thanks to our premier resident, one who everyone is grateful for, Lumpy, things have stabilized a bit. The bodies have been disposed to allow it to disappear.

More on this story as soon as some of the dead principals get revived and are interviewed.

* * *

"This is bull!" Shifty shouted as he tossed the paper to the floor. "They are taking Pop's side! They're framing us!"

"We should complain to the editor! Call a press conference! This is a damned outrage!" Lifty ranted.

"I don't think so," a low menacing voice rang that sent them cowering from fear. It was a voice that they knew well—Evil Flippy.

"Yikes! Run!" Shifty shouted, but it was no use. Before long, Flippy trapped both of them in a corner of their apartment. He brandished his knife menacingly in front of them.

"Who will be the first to die?" he playfully asked.

"Take Lifty," Shifty suddenly said as he pushed his brother towards the bear. "It was his idea! He made me do it! I didn't want to rob your house in the first place, but he hypnotized me!!!"

Flippy punched Lifty in the stomach, making him double over, but otherwise not harming him. "I don't care about that. I'll kill you, unless of course you do as I say!"

"We'll do everything! Just don't kill us! Or if you do, make it painless!" he pleaded.

"Good. What I want is simple. Tell the world that what you just read in that paper is true," said Evil Flippy.

"But it's not!" Lifty protested.

"As if the truth ever mattered to you," the bear replied. "I don't care. Do it, or you die!"

"Okay! We'll do it! Just don't hurt us!" shouted Shifty.

"Good. Now here's your reward," he laughed as he threw a bag of gold coins to the duo.

Dollar signs immediately appeared on the twins' eyes. "For that kind of money, we'll kiss your feet and sing your hosannas!" Shifty shouted as he and his brother dug their hands on the gold.

"And there's more waiting for you in a week's time if this thing remains a secret," Evil Flippy assured.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Liar!" Cuddles shouted as he saw the porcupine walking in the street.

"You don't understand!" Flaky replied, crying as she ran away.

"You sold yourself to a murderer! Where is your conscience?" Handy snarled as the porcupine ran pass the armless beaver.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist. It was Lumpy. He quickly cuffed her. "You're under arrest for lying to the police!" He threw her into the police car.

She cried all the way to the police station.

"I'm sorry! I only did it because I love Flippy!" Flaky protested once they arrived in the police station. "He told me it's the only way!"

"That is why you had to sign this contract?" Sniffles scolded as he flung the document to her face. "You had so little faith in him that you had to resort to this? To selling your own soul?"

"No! It's not that!" she cried.

Toothy appeared in jail. "I heard the news. You disappoint me. I thought you were forced in that date in the restaurant, but apparently, you wanted me dead."

"It's not true!" Flaky wailed as she confronted her latest accuser.

"You've become a monster!" Pop said as he entered the jail. "I entrusted Cub to you, and looked at what you did!"

"Please! I don't want this to happen!" she cried as she sank to her knees as the torrent of accusations hit her.

"No. Please. I tried so hard. I tried. Why is everyone—? Why? Flippy! Please!"

"Flaky," the soft voice of the veteran bear pierced the din of accusations hurled against her.

"Flippy! Oh thank God! Help me! Tell them they're wrong!" she pleaded.

"Flaky, I love you. But…"

"Flippy, what's wrong?" asked the porcupine. "Tell me you won't leave me."

"I love you, but after what I've learned, the contract, oh Flaky, how can you have so little faith in me? Don't you know that I would never let that evil twin of mine come between us? How could you! It hurts to find that you don't trust me! I'm sorry Flaky, but even if I love you, and I trust you, I cannot live with someone who cannot trust me. Goodbye Flaky!"

"No, Flippy! Don't leave! I trust you! Believe me!"

Flaky suddenly shrieked as she opened her eyes. She was in Flippy's house. She realized that she had dreamt the whole thing while she took a nap. It was so real to her. She cried. She hasn't lost Flippy yet. But she knew it was a frightening possibility.

"Why did I listen to that evil bear?" she bitterly said to herself. She realized something. She did not need the contract to win Flippy and live a happy life with the bear. She doesn't need the approval of Evil Flippy. Flippy loves her, and they would be together.

That was before—before she stupidly fell for Evil Flippy's tricks. Now, when Flippy gave her what she wanted, when he made her so happy, it was in danger.

"Why didn't I see it before?" she said to herself. "I had no faith in him! How could I have been so blind?"

Flaky fell on her knees. What she did, what she agreed to, can destroy their relationship. If Flippy knew she did something that was not needed, but only because she thought it was needed, but absolutely breached his and everyone else's trust?

* * *

Pop could not believe what he had read. "Why would Flaky lie? Why would she protect me?" said to himself as he twisted the newspaper in his fingers. "Well Cub, it looks like I'm off the hook! Enjoy it while it lasts! Because as soon as those raccoons come back, it'll be all over."

He smiled as he prepared a bath for his child. It was a mystery to him why the porcupine had told the tall tale. It's not as if the information that Pop killed Shifty and Lifty is going to ruin him. On the contrary, Lumpy wouldn't file any charges as it was most certainly a case of self-defense. Besides, nobody would think any less of him for killing the raccoon twins.

Another mystery was the identity of his killer. If he would have to take a guess, it most probably would have been Evil Flippy. It was Flippy's home where the entire event happened, after all.

He suddenly heard Cub cry. Oh no! Has he again been careless and got Cub killed again?

"You need not worry if you think your carelessness hurt Cub again," Evil Flippy's voice said.

Pop turned around, and sure enough, Evil Flippy was holding Cub in one hand, and a bowie knife on the other. "You! You were the one who killed me! And let go of Cub!"

Evil Flippy had no intention of killing Cub that morning—maybe some other time. He'd kill Pop first next time he'd kill Cub. He'd seen how Pop reacted when someone _purposely _killed Cub. It was not pretty, and he'd rather not get into a fight.

"Don't worry, I won't kill him—if you do what I say," Evil Flippy said in a low voice. "Now, sit down, and listen to what I have to say."

"I won't do any evil, if that is what you want!" Pop retorted but sat down. "Go ahead! I'm listening!"

"Good. Here is what I want you to do," said Evil Flippy. "You undoubtedly had read the paper, and read the story that has been printed about what happened in Flippy's house two days ago."

"Yes. It is all lies! I killed Shifty and Lifty! Why Flaky lied I don't know, but she was not honest in that interview!"

"Yes. What I want is that you confirm Flaky's story. Think about it. How do you see Flaky? Do you care for her?"

"Yes! She's like a daughter to me!"

"Precisely! And like a good father, you would want to have her good name preserved. Now, Flaky had given statements to the police and the press, telling the story you've just read in the papers. If you told the truth to others, she not only would be branded as a liar, she could be arrested for perjury and obstruction of justice. You don't want that, do you?"

"Well, no," said Pop.

"And it would also benefit you, I believe."

"I suppose."

"Then you know what to do. Don't talk. If you have to, confirm what Flaky just told the media," Evil Flippy virtually commanded.

"I guess I don't have any choice," Pop sighed.

"None at all," Evil Flippy rejoined.

* * *

Splendid suddenly burst upon Shify and Lifty, utterly surprising the two raccoons. He was wearing his superhero getup, as he had judged that he won't be taken seriously if he came as a mild-mannered reporter.

"We didn't do nothing! Honest!" Shifty shouted reflexively.

"Ya! We just got revived! We're sorry for trying to rob Flippy!" Lifty joined in.

"What you did was very wrong," the flying squirrel said. "But I came for a different reason. If you don't want to get what's coming to you, I suggest you cooperate."

"We'll do anything!" Shifty agreed.

"Okay. Tell me what really happened."

"Well, we tried to rob Flippy's house two days ago. But Pop came in so we killed Pop and Cub. Next thing we know—" Shifty began, but was interrupted.

"The real story. Not some made up story that Flippy forced you to tell," said Splendid.

"But—" Lifty objected.

"Don't take me for a fool," Splendid said. "I know that you were angry when you read the paper, that you were planning to publicly object, but Flippy came in, threatened you, and gave you that bag of coins in exchange for your silence."

The brothers knew that the game was up. "How'd you know that?"

"My ears do more than frame my head, you know," Splendid replied. "I have super hearing, and I have been standing outside the house the entire time."

"We'll talk," Shifty said.

"I have a little gift for you to encourage you," said the superhero. He flew out, and seconds later appeared with a gold nugget larger than Shifty and Lifty combined. "This gold comes from deep in the bowels of the earth. It is more valuable than anything your small minds could have imagined. It's yours if you tell the truth. And don't worry. Flippy won't know. And I have more for you if what you tell me checks out. But if you lie, well, I don't think I have to tell you what's in store for you if you did."

The gold, and the assurance that the evil bear won't know their treachery, dropped all scruples about telling the superhero everything that happened.

"Well, since you put it that way, we'll tell you everything. It started when…"

Shifty and Lifty told everything they knew. They were honest with Splendid, as both wanted the gold. It was much more than what could be offered by Evil Flippy.

"Well, thank you," Splendid said as he flew away. He left the gold in the room of the obviously delighted Shifty and Lifty.

* * *

"Splendid the reporter!" Pop shouted as he saw the flying squirrel in his reporter's outfit. He had decided it is better to approach the father this way. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I just wanted to interview you regarding the events of the attempted robbery of Flippy's home," Splendid asked.

"Well, there isn't much I can give you that hasn't already been told by others," Pop explained. "By the way, you have same name, same color, same species, and same look as Splendid the superhero. Are you two related?"

"No. Splendid isn't my relative," Splendid said. "It's just a coincidence."

"Oh. Sorry for asking," Pop said.

"It's okay. Now for the interview. You already have read in the papers what Flaky said. Now, do you want to say anything? Is what she said true?"

"Yes. Every word that she said regarding the event is true. Shifty and Lifty killed Cub and I, and tied up Flaky. The rest I'm not sure because I was already dead. I didn't see the raccoon brothers die."

Splendid knew Pop was lying, but he wasn't about to pressure him. Unlike the raccoons, the father of Cub was an outstanding, if careless, citizen.

* * *

Later…

Lumpy that day was working at his museum. He was bored, and he could not figure out the paper he was reading. "Gross margin up 30 percent, liquidity the best in years, ticket sales up, God, Sniffles should really make his reports in English," Lumpy complained. Lumpy has some business sense, but the accounting terms that litter the report were beyond him. "We should change the depreciation method to straight line to Sum of the Years Digit to better reflect the use of our noncurrent assets, what the heck, I don't need this," Lumpy sighed as he threw the paper on his desk as his head began to hurt.

His boredom was interrupted by the intercom. It was Giggles. "Sir, Flippy, or should I say, Evil Flippy, wants to see you."

"Let him in," said the moose. Seconds later the evil bear was before him. "So what do you want? Make sure it's good because I'm in a foul mood right now."

"Look, you know what happened at my house," Evil Flippy demanded.

"Flippy, you forget who you're talking to," Lumpy warned, annoyed at the tone Evil Flippy was taking with him.

"Sorry boss," Evil Flippy apologized. He wanted to wring Lumpy's neck for the moose's impertinence and arrogant air, but he knew he couldn't. Not when he needed something from him. "I forgot my place. Anyway, I would like to request that whatever happens, you would not print anything in your paper that would contradict Flaky's story."

Lumpy eyed the bear suspiciously. Now he knew that Evil Flippy has something to do with it. "Why? Is there anything you know that would suggest that Flaky is anything other than totally truthful? If you do, then pray tell. For if you don't tell me, then if anything comes out that would contradict it, then I would not hesitate to print it."

It was an implied threat, and Evil Flippy recognized it as such. He would not buckle and be bullied by this moose however. Perhaps some other stratagem would work. "Sir, I am rich. Can I suggest that if you learn something that will contradict Flaky, in exchange for a hefty donation to your museum and your personal account, you will keep the information secret?"

Lumpy's ears perked up. "How much will this donation be?" he curiously asked.

"About a million," said Evil Flippy.

"Make it three million, and sign a contract that would bind yourself forever in my employment, in whatever job I need you, and you have yourself a deal," said Lumpy, lighting a cigar, obviously pleased with himself.

"Look, I can't bargain away my freedom of action!" Evil Flippy protested.

"I'm not doing anything that you haven't done to Flaky," Lumpy countered.

"You can't make me do that!"

"I'll drop my demand for lifetime employment if you tell me what really happened. And make it five million dollars," Lumpy replied. He was really enjoying this.

Evil Flippy grew angrier at Lumpy, but he knew he must swallow his pride if he has to get his way. "The money is no problem, I have more than enough. But I do not know enough to tell you something that you yourself don't know."

"Well, deal's off then. Keep your money, but if I learned something, whatever it is, it'll get out," Lumpy smugly said.

"Okay, okay, you win," Evil Flippy frustratingly said. He would have to tell Lumpy something. But what?

"Tell the truth. If you lie, and I find out, everything is off. I will make you miserable. You know that I can do that to you," Lumpy calmly said.

Evil Flippy knew he was trapped. It felt infuriating that as his grip on Flaky and good Flippy tightened, he is falling under Lumpy's control. How could someone be so stupid and so cunning at the same time?

"Okay. Here is what really happened," said Evil Flippy. "My involvement started during lunch. I was going home for a quick bite—I was flipped so good Flippy knew nothing of this—I was surprised to see Shifty and Lifty already dead, and Pop walking towards Flaky who was bound and gagged. I killed Pop, and left Flaky tied up to so that Good Flippy would have credit for freeing her."

He didn't mention that he coached Flaky to tell a lie. "I guess Flaky told that story in order to make sure good Flippy wouldn't be involved. I believe for her sake that we shouldn't do anything to cast doubt on her story. We wouldn't want to expose her as a liar, would we?"

Evil Flippy was proud. He was able to paint himself in a good way without outright lying, and he extricated himself from a hole in which he had dug himself into.

"I guess we really have no choice then," Lumpy sighed. "Well, I won't print anything that might harm Flaky, for an additional million dollars."

"Six million dollars in total?" asked Evil Flippy. It was exorbitant, but he was rich enough, or rather, good Flippy is rich enough, to be able to easily pay it. "Deal!"

Lumpy chuckled. "Well, then, since that is settled, I suggest you go back to work before I fire your lazy ass for too much goofing off!"

* * *

Later…

Evil Flippy was proud of himself. He was able to quickly neutralize the threat that had hung over his head, and he didn't even need to work on Splendid and Sniffles. Those reporters will get nothing from the witnesses, and if they somehow do, they would be stopped by editor Lumpy.

The only thing that chagrined the bear is his growing dependence on the goodwill of Lumpy to keep his plans going. He would like to kill the moose and to teach him a lesson, but right now, his priority is to gain control of Flaky, and to keep good Flippy ignorant.

Evil Flippy entered his house, and was immediately perturbed by Flaky. The red porcupine had made his house immaculately clean and orderly, signs that the lessons Petunia gave did not go to waste. He was pleased, of course, that his indoctrination of Flaky on the virtues of humility and obedience were taking root. Not that she needed much coaching. Her timidity and the fact that she is a pushover were simply reinforced by the new lessons.

"Good afternoon, Flippy!" Flaky greeted. "I hope you had a good day."

"I did," said Evil Flippy. "You need not worry about your story being contradicted. I took care of that."

"Thank you very much," she said. "Do you want anything? I already prepared your dinner. All you have to do is heat it in the microwave. Don't worry about the dishes. I'll do it first thing in the morning."

The bear looked at Flaky. Even if she tried to look as submissive as possible, he can tell in her eyes that she was deathly afraid. Of what, he did not know, but she was probably scared of him. It wasn't unusual, as she was always scared of him. Still, there is something about Flaky that made him uneasy, but he could not put his finger on it.

"That'll do for today," Evil Flippy replied. "I dare say you did an excellent job. Flippy, even if that goody two shoes wouldn't admit it, would be thrilled to have such an effective and obedient homemaker once he marries you. You still remember what you will do once you two are wed?"

"Yes. I will always obey and follow Flippy, except when it contradicts your orders," Flaky recited.

Evil Flippy nodded in approval and let good Flippy take over to give him the privilege of saying goodbye for the day.

"Flaky? I flipped again, didn't I?" the kind bear realized. "Oh Flaky, I'm so sorry for flipping out so many times."

Flaky looked at the bear lovingly, and ran to hug her.

"Oh Flippy, whatever happens, I love you. Please understand that everything I do is for you, that I would never do anything that would hurt you," Flaky cried.

Flippy was perplexed by Flaky's sudden outburst. "Same here," he replied. "I love you too. Flaky, what's going on?"

Flaky only tightened her hug, but managed to say, "Evil Flippy…" then she could say no more as she cried harder.

"Oh him. Look," Flippy gently whispered, "Evil Flippy doesn't control my life. He doesn't want you. But no matter what happens, he cannot pry us apart. We're stronger than that. He can only win if we let him, and we know we're both stronger than that. I love you, and for me, that is all that matters. Not him. Not the entire world."

He slowly tore her off him, held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. It was full of tears.

Flaky dried her tears. "I've got to go. See you tomorrow," she said. "And thank you."

She quickly left, leaving Flippy puzzled about her behaviour. He simply assumed it was because of Evill Flippy, like always.

He marched to the mirror to confront his doppelganger. "I know what you're doing, and it won't work!"

"Doing?" his evil twin rejoined. "Why, whatever are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent. It doesn't work on you," said Flippy. "You know what I'm talking about. You're trying to break us apart! You don't like her being part of my life!"

"Oh please! If I wanted you two to break up, I could have easily arranged it before," said his evil twin.

"Please! I'd believe that if there is permanent kills in this town," Flippy replied. "You're nothing but a puny obstacle. It's more mental. You can kill her over and over again, but she'd still be mine, and I'd be hers. I want Flaky, and she wants me. There's nothing you can do about it!"

"Why don't you marry that damned fool if you really wanted her," the evil bear growled. "Why don't you make it official? Then she'd be mine too!"

"As a matter of fact I'm going to!" Flippy smugly said. He took out a tiny box from his pocket. "See this ring? I'm going to propose!"

"Well, it took you long enough," said Evil Flippy.

"So there! You lost! You lost, you hear me! You cannot break us up!" he gloated. "I'm finally going to have some happiness in my life."

"Au contraire, I've already won," evil Flippy said. "I've already won. You just didn't know it. And you confirmed it tonight. Flaky might be yours, but you have to share her!"

"I don't know what you're planning, but I assure you, I'm going to do everything to neutralize you!" said Good Flippy.

"We'll see," said Evil Flippy. "So, you're going to propose tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow. It's too soon. In six months," said Flippy.

"You're such a wuss!" Evil Flippy said before disappearing.

* * *

The next day…

It was early morning, and Pop rang the doorbell to Flippy's house. He knew that Flaky is working at Flippy's house, and despite the attempted robbery, he still thought that Flaky is the best girl to babysit Cub. He hesitated as he thought he heard some sobbing from inside the house, but he needed to go somewhere important, and he can't bring Cub along.

Flaky opened the door. "Pop! I wasn't expecting you," she said.

Pop was perplexed when he saw the red porcupine. Her voice and her eyes showed that she was crying. Her face has a sad, resigned look on her. "Flaky, is there something wrong?"

"No, no, no," she said.

"Well, okay. Anyway, I have an appointment, and there's no one out there who's got the time to look after Cub while I'm away. Can you babysit him for a while? I'll be back in the afternoon. Probably about four. What do you say?"

"After what happened last time? Wouldn't you want to find another babysitter? I mean, this is Evil Flippy's home!" she replied.

"No, no. Cub has as much chance of dying by Flippy's hand here as him getting accidentally killed in any other town. No. Flaky, I trust you. You are the one person whom I know that won't let Cub down," said Pop. "Please. Take Cub. I can turn to no one else."

Flaky looked at Pop. That bear had so much trust in her. Maybe he could…

The red porcupine was carrying a heavy burden. She wished with all her heart to be free from it, but she cannot muster the will required of it. Perhaps she could tell someone, someone who could understand her. Not Flippy. It would ruin everything. She wanted to tell someone, not because she wanted to break away, but because she could feel less alone. Would Pop do? Under the present circumstances, he is the most appropriate one.

"Well, I've got to be going now," said the father. "See ya' soon."

"Wait. Pop, if you have the time, I want to tell you something," Flaky said.

"Flaky? Is there something wrong?"

"Yes," she croaked as she walked towards the living room. Sitting on a couch, she composed herself. "I've done a terrible thing. Please don't tell Flippy of this."

"You have my word."

"I'm not asking you to help me. I'm far too gone for that," Flaky said. "But at least listen. I need to tell this to someone."

Pop remained silent, so Flaky continued.

"I always wanted Flippy—good Flippy, that is. He is good, kind, courageous, everything that a girl could want. He was rich, but I didn't know how rich he was before. Even if he was living under a bridge I would still want him. At first I didn't realize it, but then, I just knew, I knew that I'm head over heels over him."

"There was only one problem. Only one. But that problem is so huge as to be insurmountable. It was Evil Flippy. He killed me many times. Many, many times. So much so that I grew paranoid. Even as good Flippy dated me, he filled my head, and I caused Flippy's death one stormy night over such. It was horrible. Yet over time, I got over it, and his attacks, on me at least, became less frequent."

"Good Flippy held back. I knew that it was because of Evil Flippy. His violence, and good Flippy's concern for me, held him back. He didn't tell me, but I knew. He is an honourable guy, and he wouldn't do anything that would endanger my life. He was so near, yet so far away."

"Then, came the date. You might remember it as when you died with Russell because of a grenade thrown in your car," Flaky started.

"Yes, I remembered," Pop concurred.

"He made a tempting offers. First, he would not interfere with good Flippy and me. Second, he would protect me and any family that Flippy and I would create if we ever became together and got married. In exchange I would serve him and do as I say. Its worst than it sounds. I mean, he demanded absolute obedience to me, and I wanted him so bad, I agreed. I even signed a contract! I help kill Petunia, Sniffles, Cro Marmot and other that fateful night! Oh you must hate me!" Flaky cried.

"No. I don't hate you. What you did is understandable," Pop said.

"I haven't helped kill anyone since then. I obeyed his orders without question. And he, to be fair, upheld his end of the bargain. He saved my life once on a roller coaster ride, he didn't do anything that might hinder Flippy's affection for me, and he didn't kill the people I asked him not to kill, including your son, Cub. Most of his actions helped Flippy and I become closer. And to that, I have been thankful."

Pop listened attentively, the narrative riveting, and emotional.

"Yet, I realized now, that the more Flippy seemed to be closer, the tighter Evil Flippy's grip became. Every order, every submission that I make to him adds another coffin to my relationship to good Flippy. You might seemed surprised. Why should you? Because I realized now that I have betrayed his trust, that he would never forgive me, or that if he did, he would never want to be near me again. I trusted and sold myself to someone he utterly hated because I did not have enough faith in him. If he ever finds out, I am finished! How can he trust me if he believes I don't trust him enough to love me in spite of Evil Flippy? If I hadn't agreed to the contract, if Evil Flippy keeps on killing me, we would still be together!"

"Flaky, what can we do for you?" Pop asked, shaken by the narrative.

"Nothing. I have made my choice. Nothing you can do can help me. Evil Flippy now has true and complete power over me. Not before. Now. Before, nothing he can do can dim good Flippy's view of me. Now, all he has to do is tell him what I have done, and it'll be all over. We are together, and I want it to be that way. I regret doing this, and if given the chance, I wouldn't have done it. But I did, and I gave my word. I cannot break my promise, even if it was to such a conniving liar like Evil Flippy."

"Don't get me wrong. I want to be out of this! I want it to be like before! I'd take Evil Flippy killing me on a routine basis than this uncertainty! But it's too late! What I want to happen, and what can happen in reality, are two different things. I have Flippy, and it hangs on such a fragile threat as Evil Flippy's good will. My God, I have no choice! I have to follow Evil Flippy in order to follow my heart! No, I am lost. Lost! I only have good Flippy, and I want him. For God' sake don't tell him! If you value my sanity and my life, please don't tell good Flippy!"

"I swear to God that I won't," said Pop.

* * *

"For the last time, what you said didn't make any sense! No!" Lumpy shouted as Splendid pressed him to act.

"But don't you see? It was Evil Flippy who did all those things! Shifty and Lifty told me so!"

"You take the word of two thieves at face value?" Lumpy asked. "I'm disappointed. Besides, your interview with Pop, as you said, agreed with Flaky's version. Whom are you going to believe? The two thieves, or an upright citizen?"

They were in Lumpy's newspaper office. Splendid came to plead to let him publish a series of stories that would, at least, cast doubt on Flaky's story, and to pin the blame on Evil Flippy. Lumpy was less than enthusiastic at this prospect.

"With all due respect sir, I have the lab results from Sniffles that tells us that Flaky's version of the story cannot have happened!" said Splendid.

"No. No. I am not sure you are right. What of Flaky? Can you imagine what it might do to her?"

"Sir, it's her fault for lying anyway," Splendid said. "Let her suffer the consequences of her folly!"

"She's our friend for crying out loud!" Lumpy shouted. "You cannot do that to her!"

"She is, but if she broke the law, then she deserves what's coming to her," Splendid coldly replied. "Just because someone is our friend, doesn't mean she's perfect!"

Before they can continue, they heard Giggles in the intercom. "Sir, Pop is here to see you. Shall I tell him that you're too busy?"

Lumpy looked at Splendid, sighed and shook his head. "No. No. Tell him to come here and I'll listen to whatever it is he wants to say."

"Okay sir."

"Thanks Giggles."

"Now let's put that to rest, shall we? Now, tell me about your other stories," Lumpy asked.

"Well, sir, there is that about the accident that killed Russell, Handy, and Petunia yesterday," said Splendid.

"Oh I was responsible for that, accidentally of course! Of course, you will write it's a complete mystery on how that happened, right?"

"Of course, of course, that goes without saying, sir," said Splendid. "How about the—"

Pop suddenly entered. He was haggard looking, he was sweating, he was nervous. "Lumpy, you've got to help me! You've got to help Flaky! Swear to God you'll tell no one about this! It's terrible! It's terrible! You've got to get her out of the clutches of Evil Flippy!" he ranted as he shook Lumpy by the shoulder.

"Calm down, Pop!" Lumpy said as he pried himself off Pop's grip. "You're not making any sense!"

"Look, I've to say something. It's for your ears only. Don't tell anyone. Evil Flippy has Flaky under his power, and—Splendid! Oh no! You didn't hear anything! This is nothing!" Pop said as he saw the flying squirrel in civilian garb for the first time. "Oh no, I've said too much! Lumpy, I thought you were alone."

"It's too late now. I've heard everything. You lied to me about what happened in Flippy's house, right?" Splendid interrogated.

"Yes. I killed Shifty and Lifty. But this is more important than all of that!" Pop insisted. "Lumpy, I insist that I talk to you alone! This is a matter of life and death! I can't have someone else know of this! There is too much risk!"

"Relax. You can trust Splendid here. He's one of my top notch reporters and he's utterly trustworthy!" Lumpy assured.

"Sorry. I forgot that you only have the same name, color, and species as that so-called superhero. But you've got to admit, it's quite a coincidence! Are you sure you don't know him or aren't related to that superzero?"

"I know him, as you know him, but I'm not related to him," he asserted, slightly offended. He's not lying because he's not related to Splendid the superhero, he's him. "Why are you so upset with him, anyway?"

"Are you kidding? He's a clutz! He always manages to kill the person he's trying to 'save' and he kills others along in the process!" Pop said. "But nevermind! Look, Splendid, can you, on your honor as a journalist, keep a secret? Because I won't say another word until I have that guarantee! Lumpy, until he makes that promise, I won't talk!"

"I promise!" Splendid said. "Well?"

"Flaky. Flaky. She, Flaky, well, how should I say this?"

"Well? What about Flaky?" Lumpy nearly shouted.

"She's under Evil Flippy's control, and it is against her will! We must help her! Help her, I tell you!"

"Calm down Pop," Splendid said. "You're not making any sense."

Pop took a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty brow. "Where was I? Oh yes. About Flaky and Evil Flippy. Okay, let me start."

Pop told them Flaky's story.

There was a minute or two of silence as both the moose and the flying squirrel digested what Pop told them.

"Okay. Why did you tell us? I mean, Flaky herself don't want anyone else to know," Splendid asked.

"Just a debt of gratitude. Flaky did not tell anyone that I killed those two raccoons, and that to me is something. She saved my reputation, and I must have felt that I must do something for her. She's like the daughter I never had! If she didn't do that, I would have stayed out of it."

"Don't you think she's only getting her just desserts? I mean, she made those choices. Especially the contract, she can choose not to follow Evil Flippy," Lumpy offered.

"She's paid them many times over," said Pop. "If you just look at her current state, you would realize that she's paid for it, many many times. She's been quite punished enough, and I think it's time to get her out of it."

"Fair enough," the moose said. "So what do you want us to do to help her?"

"I don't know. You own everything around here! You think of an idea!" the bear replied.

"I'm not the brightest bulb in the room, you know," Lumpy said.

"I've got it," said Splendid. "I know how we can get Flaky out of this mess!"

"Well, cough it up!" Lumpy replied. "This better be good!"

End of Chapter 11

Notes: First of all I apologize for the delay. Lots of things came up and I didn't have time to update.

To **FlakyFan55, **thanks for the complements. And yes, things are catching up on Flaky.

To **Addicting Candy, **thanks.

To **Boulder the Dragon, **thanks a lot.

To **Laurentius Berry, **same here. I'm not the fan I used to be, but I still watch new episodes. Yup, the climax is coming soon. Flaky now realizes her mistake, and chafes at Evil Flippy's thumb, but is helpless to do anything. Lumpy is simply greedy, and holds the most important jobs which makes him important to the town. Splendid, well, I think this chapter answers this question.

To **Sick Twisted Mind, **well, he is rich in this story. Very rich. He just likes to hide his wealth.

To **Hekate666, **thanks.

To **Typoist185, **well I think it's safe to assume that things aren't going to well for Evil Flippy's plan, despite what he might think.

Thanks for the review and complements.


	12. Risk and Uncertainty

**Measure of Acceptability**

**Chapter XII**

**Risk and Uncertainty**

It was a week after Pop's meeting with Splendid and Lumpy…

Pop was a nervous wreck ever since the day he talked with Flaky. He still brings Cub regularly to be babysat by the porcupine. Flaky still tended to act cheerful. But Pop could see that it was an act for those outside—he could see the same terror and sadness that he saw when she confessed her troubles. And she was still doing housekeeping chores for Flippy.

The father can wait no longer, and picked up the phone.

"Splendid the reporter speaking, how may I help you?" Splendid answered.

"Splendid, we should implement your plan! I can't bear looking at Flaky like this!"

"Don't ask me! It's Lumpy who has to give the go-ahead. Besides, I don't think Sniffles has finished with his machine that we're going to use," said the flying squirrel.

"But we have got to do something!" Pop shouted.

"But we can't do anything until all the preparations have been completed," Splendid said. "Otherwise it will all be in vain!"

"I can't just sit here and wait!" Pop shouted, ready to pop a vein in his forehead.

"Tell you what, why don't you, you know, go and check on Sniffles to see whether or not he has completed the machine," said Splendid.

"Okay, I'll do that," said Pop hanging up.

He prepared to leave, but before he could, he received two visitors.

Giggles and Flippy.

Flaky the day before has indicated that she would be extremely busy and therefore would not have time to babysit Cub. Luckily, it was Giggles' day off for all her jobs and she gladly accepted the extra pay that would come with babysitting Cub that day.

"Giggles! Flippy! Come in, come in! Thank you Giggles for babysitting Cub on such short notice. Flippy! What brings you here? And why all dressed up?" Pop noticed that Flippy was wearing a suit, carried a briefcase in one hand, and a thick book in another.

"Oh I was made Town Auditor nearly a week ago by Lumpy. I took a crash course on taxes and auditing this past week. I passed the examinations yesterday, just got my license, and was assigned to look at your tax returns. Hope you don't mind," said Flippy. "Let's take care of business first, then we can talk of other things."

"Well, okay. Giggles, Cub is at the crib. Okay, what do you want from me, Flippy?"

The pink chipmunk went to get Cub while Flippy looked at a paper on his hand. "First, I want to know your total income, then your deductible expenses, and of course, documentation to support your assertions," he asked.

Flippy and Pop went over the taxes for two hours.

"Well, at least that's finished," said Pop as Flippy finished.

"Not quite. I'm going to have to go to Sniffles to verify my numbers. He's the real expert in taxes around here."

"You're going to Sniffles right now?" asked Pop.

"As a matter of fact I am. I'd love to chat but this took longer than I expected, and I need to have this finished before noon. I'd still have to do Disco Bear, Nutty, and Petunia's taxes."

"What a coincidence! I'm also going to that anteater's place!" said Pop.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Giggles, I'm going to be away for a few hours. You know my cell phone number if you need anything!" Pop instructed.

"Okay Pop. Cub and I are going to have tons of fun!" Giggles replied.

* * *

"So, how are you and Flaky?" Pop dared to asked Flippy once they were walking on the streets.

"She's happy like she's never been before," said the veteran. "But at the same time, she's not. I don't know how I can explain this, she's both sad and happy, both ecstatic and terrified. I'm worried. But, I don't know. Maybe she's sick. I can't get anything out of her."

"So what do you think is wrong with her?" asked Pop. "Do you have any idea?"

"I think it has to do with Evil Flippy. She's scared. I don't know why. Well, I think I do. She's scared of that cursed twin of mine," said the green bear. "That's why I held back for so long. If it wasn't for the attempted robbery, I'd keep silent, because of what my twin would do. Now the cat is out of the bag, and Evil Flippy is running wild. Strange thing is that he's never hurt her or tried to kill her—physically at least. So it must be psychological."

Flippy was silent for a few minutes. "Forgive me Pop! I must be boring you with stories of my domestic life."

"No, not at all. To tell you the truth, Flaky, I noticed, has been acting a bit strange lately," said Pop.

"Tell me about it. I sometimes think it's her natural paranoia about everything in this town. I mean, twice this week she had been accidentally killed, by Lumpy the first time and you the second, if you remember, but that's not it. Not by a long shot. It's Evil Flippy. I can't prove it, but I know it's him. He's up to something. What? I don't know. But I'm willing to bet my medals that he is the cause of whatever is unsettling Flaky. What I wouldn't give to get rid of my twin! Things would be perfect if he just disappeared."

"You really wanted to get rid of Evil Flippy?"

"Only ever since I got out from that war! I mean, let's be honest. I wouldn't be here, alive, nor would I be a war hero and have all those medals, and be this rich without my twin. But the war is over. I can't control him. He doesn't belong here. He makes me miserable. I want him to be gone, to disappear, to vanish from my life. I don't need him. I know that I can best him in a fight. But how? I don't know. I will. I promise you I will. He tries his best to deprive me of friends. If it were not for the unique immortality of the inhabitants of this town, he would have succeeded. This is one thing I like about this town. It neutralized the effects of Evil Flippy's violence even as it indulged him his penchant for violence. Oh I'm sorry for ranting."

"No need to apologize at all, my boy," said Pop. "Well, at least we're at Sniffles' now."

Sniffles was working on a large machine. They saw that Toothy was strapped in a chair with a metal bowl covering his head up to his eyelashes, with different wires in different colors connecting it to the machine under the bed.

"I don't think this is a good idea. Let me go! You're scaring me!" the beaver shouted.

"Don't worry, I'm a ninety percent sure this would work. Just relax. Sit back, and enjoy. I promise you it would be a doozy. Pop, Flippy! You're just in time to see me test my latest invention!"

Toothy was visibly panicking, so Sniffles put a thick wad of cloth into his mouth to silence the beaver. "Don't worry. If you die, well… you die, but you'll be alive again!"

As Pop and Flippy watched, Sniffles pressed some buttons on the machine. Toothy shouted, loud, even with the gag.

"I think you need to shut it," Pop suggested.

"Nah! It's supposed to happen! It's actually feels very good to Toothy."

Suddenly, Toothy stopped moving. Sniffles looked at him, touched him in the neck to get a pulse, then sadly shook his head. "He's dead. I guess I'd have to iron out some bugs off this thing."

"Toothy, is he really?"

Sniffles looked solemn as he closed his eyes. "Yes. He died for science. He was a brave volunteer. He'll always be remembered, and he'll be back."

Sniffles went and looked at the screen of his machines. "So that's what caused the screw-up. Too much of those. Let's adjust it." Sniffles fiddled with some of the controls. "There, it's perfect. This machine ought to work. All I need now is a volunteer. Would you guys like to test the machine?"

"Um, no. I have work to do," Flippy said.

"Well, I'd love to, but I can't really. Not now! I need to do a lot of things," Pop said.

"Well, I better call another volunteer." Sniffles picked up his phone and dialled a number. "Cuddles! How are you? Listen, I need a favour. Well, I need someone to test my invention and see if it works. Yeah, I'm sure it'll work 100%, and you will be the one to prove it. You would? Thanks. How about now? Well, that's super. I'll expect you in fifteen minutes. Well, that was quick. Now, what can I do for you two?"

Flippy shook his head. The death of Toothy had triggered memories of the war, and he started to flip. However, the process was aborted when Pop slapped his back, snapping him back to his senses. "Thanks Pop. I don't need to flip right now. Sniffles, I understand that you're an expert on these things, could you check if I did Pop's taxes right?" asked Flippy.

Flippy and Sniffles discussed Pop's tax returns while waiting for Cuddles.

The yellow rabbit arrive just as they are concluding their work. "Don't take it too hard. You're just a rookie, and it's expected that you'll have some errors in the returns. If anything, you should be proud that you've made very few mistakes compared to the others," Sniffles said to Flippy. He turned his attention to the rabbit. "Cuddles! I'm so glad you've arrived!"

"Pop! Flippy! You're here to see Sniffles' machine too, huh? Well, if you want to be the first to try it, I'm sorry! Sniffles asked me first!" Cuddles shouted. "Wow! It's big? What is it? Wait! Don't tell me! Just strap me in and I'll try to guess what it is!"

Pop and Flippy were dumbfounded by Cuddles' blind faith and enthusiasm for Sniffles' inventions. But Cuddles wouldn't be Cuddles if he became cautious and suspicious, now would he?

"Glad you're excited about this," said Sniffles. "Well, just go there and lie down on that bed. I'll strap you so you won't be in any danger."

Cuddles excitedly sat down on the contraption and kept asking questions as Sniffles strapped him down.

"Let me guess, it's something that cures cancer?"

"Not by a long shot," Sniffles laughed as he pressed a button.

Cuddles gave a bloodcurdling scream before he expired.

"Well, another life for science. I guess a few adjustments wouldn't do. This needs a complete overhaul. No need to worry, I'll fix it up and you can tell Lumpy if you see him that it'll be ready in a few months time. I just need to determine what went wrong."

There was silence as Flippy again nearly flipped, but was stopped when Sniffles threw a glass of water at his face.

Sniffles looked at the two. "Oh could you kindly dispose of his body while you're here?"

After they disposed of Cuddles' body, Flippy bid them farewell. "Well, I better be going now. I have to do the taxes of the others. See you!"

"Been a pleasure seeing you," Sniffles shouted as the green bear left.

"So, is that the machine we're going to use to help Flaky?" asked Pop as soon as Flippy was gone. "It looks more like an electric chair than anything that can help anybody if you don't mind me saying."

"Well, it does have a few kinks. But you can assure Lumpy and Splendid that I'm doing my best. I don't know how long it'd take but it can't be longer than two or three months."

"Well, I hope the situation doesn't get any worse," said Pop, grimly. "Frankly, if I had my way, I'd lock Flippy up forever in some cell out in the middle of nowhere and throw away the key, but I can't because of good Flippy."

"Yup! We have a basket case here, but he's something that's not too easy to solve," Sniffles commented. "I wish he'd be just one way or the other. If he's permanently evil, we could have Splendid dispose of him, and I'd bed he'd do it easily too. If he's permanently good, well, there isn't any problem at all."

"I agree. We can however, do our best. Anyway, thanks for this. Hope you don't mind me asking and asking the same questions every week. I simply am too concerned with Flaky."

* * *

After a month…

Flippy is nervous. He plans to propose to Flaky in the near future, but he's still too concerned about Evil Flippy's activities. What can he do? He can't stay away from her, but he cannot be with her as long as Evil Flippy exists. It didn't matter that he was able to do so in the past couple of months. The deterioration of Flaky's situation showed how unhealthy it was for Flaky. One way or the other it must end, for Flaky's sake. She cannot live under Evil Flippy's shadow forever just because he, Good Flippy, loves her. It would be selfish of him.

He had been thinking long and hard about his unusual situation. He wanted to get rid of his so called twin. He cannot take his next momentous step in life without accomplishing this step, because all it would be all for naught. He already has a stable job, which, despite the massacres perpetrated by Evil Flippy, is secure thanks to Lumpy's patronage. He has enough wealth to be able to not ever work again for the rest of his life, but he doesn't want to just stand around doing nothing. He has the girl of his dreams in his grasp, and all he had to do is to tie the knot and settle down. But with Evil Flippy, it is hard if not impossible to do.

The last time he did anything about it in a positive way was just after a massacre in the county fair, when he sought the advice of a psychiatrist. Lumpy the psychiatrist wasn't too bad—in fact, aside from hypnotizing himself into a chicken, he pretty much did everything right that time. And it provoked his evil side into that rash attack, the attack that, although it did not banish him completely, weakened him considerably.

Now he's getting stronger, but how? He figured that the effect of his battle was slowly wearing off. He needed to banish him completely in order to render him ineffective. He needed to drub his other side more effectively this time? But how can you drub some more when the first time you killed him and fifty something of his clones?

Perhaps it's time to see a shrink. If he's lucky, he'd get Sniffles, but if it's Lumpy, he'll take what he can get. After all, he wouldn't want to offend his boss by refusing him his services, now would he?

* * *

Later that week…

He cursed his luck. He hoped that Sniffles was at the psychiatric shift this day, but instead, it was Lumpy with his black beard that was on duty. Of course, he couldn't refuse, or he might offend him, and that was the last thing he wanted. Anyway, his performance last time wasn't as bad as he'd expected, so he expected Lumpy to at least make it a competent job.

"So Flippy, what are you doing here?" asked the moose.

"Well, I wonder if you would like to have a patient at this time of day?" Flippy asked.

"So you've got a friend whom you want me to look over?"

"No, no. I mean, me! I want my head examined by a shrink," said Flippy.

"Okay. So tell me, have you ever visited a psychiatrist before, or is this your first time?"

Flippy looked at the moose as if he was crazy. Maybe reports of his idiocy were not exaggerated. "I was your patient before, remember?"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes! Right after the carnival massacre! You taught me to medidate, remember? And you hypnotized yourself into a chicken!"

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Perhaps going through my files would clarify mattes a bit," said the moose. He activated his intercom. "Giggles, can you look at my files and see if there is anything on Flippy?"

"Sure thing, Doctor," said the chipper chipmunk on the phone.

"According to this, he was your patient a year ago," said Giggles over the intercom.

"Hmm. Could you bring it over here? I can't seem to remember anything about it."

"Right away, sir," said Giggles.

"Well anyway, while we're waiting for your files, tell me why you're here," Lumpy started. "You want to be a chicken? Or do you want somebody else be become a chicken?"

"Chicken? No, no, no. I want advice. Well, if you can keep a secret," Flippy began.

"I'm the soul of discretion," Lumpy assured. That didn't reassure Flippy one bit, but what choice did he have?

"Sir, I plan to propose to Flaky," he began.

"Well, good for you! I'm sure she'll say yes. And I'd be glad to officiate your wedding!" the moose said. "Let's see, I'll require payment of at least, hm, how much did I get paid for that exorcism stuff on Cub? I can't remember. I'll have to ask Pop how much I got paid."

"No, I'm not here to talk to you as a priest. Any, it's moot, because I can't propose anyway," Flippy continued, "because Evil Flippy is within me. I want her, I want to marry her, but I can't, because I can't subject her to the nightmare that is Evil Flippy. It would selfish of me."

"Yes, just like birds in the sky," Lumpy replied. "Black birds are bad luck. But not as much as broken mirrors. Or cats. Did you know birds eat cats? Or was it the other way around? I remember the time when a bird fell from a tree and I tried to put it back on its nest! Boy, was that some kind of adventure! But not as exciting as one where I entered into the carnival the giant corn that I raised! I won that fair! You should've seen it! But you would've died, like everyone else!"

"Sir? What are you talking about?" asked Flippy, perplexed at the moose.

"Oh, sorry about that. Anyway, if you can somehow get rid of Evil Flippy, you'd marry her in a heartbeat," Lumpy stated.

"Nothing would make me happier," said Flippy.

At that point, Giggles entered. "Doctor, here are Flippy's files!"

"Oh thank you, Giggles," said Lumpy as he grabbed the folder.

"It says here that you came to me after the massacre at the amusement park, and that I tried to cure you of Evil Flippy," said Lumpy. "Oh yes! I remember. I became a chicken! Boy, that was embarrassing! You tried to get rid of him! Evil Flippy, I mean."

"And I thought I succeeded. Very nearly too," said Flippy. "But it wasn't enough."

The next few minutes were conducted with the standard tests: inkblot, word association, and the usual things.

"Well, come back again in two days, and maybe, we'll have a cure for that," said Lumpy.

"Really?" asked Flippy.

"Nothing's definite, but it's possible," said Lumpy as he took a bottle from his cabinet and put some of the liquid on a glass. "Here, drink some juice. It should soothe your nerves."

"Thanks," Flippy said as he took it and drank it all.

Suddenly, he clutched his throat, and then, fell dead.

"You didn't mix up the bottle of juice with the poison!" Giggles, who just entered and saw the scene, gasped.

"Um," Lumpy said, stupidly, then looked at the cabinet. Sure enough, the bottle of poison and the bottle of juice were besides each other. "Yeah."

"I'll clean up the body, Giggles said.

"You do that," said Lumpy, before going to his phone and dialling a number.

"Sniffles. This is Lumpy. Is the machine ready?"

"Yes. I just tested it, and I'm confident it'll work. I'll put the machine there in the building and we can call Flippy later this afternoon," Sniffles said.

"He just died," said Lumpy.

"Well, we'll use it when he comes back," said Sniffles. "But would Flippy be happy with this?"

"Yes, yes," said Lumpy. "Call Pop and Splendid. I want them all present when it happens."

"Yes sir," said Sniffles.

* * *

The next day…

Lumpy, Pop, Sniffles, and Splendid in his reporter guise were at a restaurant, Lumpy's restaurant, eating lunch, and talking.

"What'll it be?" Toothy, the waiter, asked.

"The usual," said Lumpy.

"I'm not really hungry," Pop said, "so I'll just have a peanut butter and jelly and coffee."

"I'll have the same as Pop," said Splendid the reporter.

"Are ants available?" asked Sniffles.

"Well, um, I think so. Boss?" Toothy looked at Lumpy.

"Sorry Sniffles, we just run out," said Lumpy.

"Just my luck! Oh well! I'll just have some spaghetti and orange juice then," said the anteater.

Toothy wrote down their orders. "Thank you for choosing our restaurant. I hope you enjoy your meal!" he politely said before going to the kitchen.

"Well, is everything ready?" Pop asked Sniffles.

"As ready as it could be," said the anteater. "I've tested it several times, but, to tell you the truth, it's kind of risky."

"Well, what's the worst thing that could happen? He could die, you know, but that really isn't anything you have to worry about considering his case," Splendid opined. "He'll just come back if that happened."

"Like Cuddles and Toothy," Pop said, remembering the earlier tests that Sniffles did.

"No. Its much worse," Sniffles cautioned.

"What do you mean?" Lumpy asked.

"Well, the machine would either make Flippy completely normal, or he'd become insane."

"Insane?" asked Splendid.

"As in stark raving mad," Sniffles confirmed. "You know, the ones that we lock in an asylum."

"But Cuddles and Toothy, during the failed tests didn't become mad!" Pop shouted.

"For one thing, that isn't the final version," Sniffles began.

"But did any of your last test subjects become insane?" Pop asked.

"No. Cuddles and Disco Bear were the last ones I tested it on," said Sniffles.

"Cuddles? He actually agreed to be tested by your device after what happened to him last time?" Pop asked incredulously.

"He actually said it was fun," said Sniffles. "Anyway, even though none of them became insane, it doesn't matter because they don't have Flippy's mental condition. On normal guys, it would not have much of an effect, but with Flippy, it's very dangerous. I'd like to explain it to you, but it's kind of complicated. The only thing that I can say is that Flippy could become as normal as you and I, or become completely insane."

"You mean like Evil Flippy?" asked Lumpy.

"No. Evil Flippy, and come to think, Nutty and Lammy, are not really insane. They might be crazy, but at the end of it all, they are perfectly normal for our town," said Sniffles.

"So what do we do?" asked Pop.

"We obviously have to tell Flippy of the consequences," Splendid said. "He has to decide whether or not he'd take the risk. If I was him, I'd say no. We can't force him to do this, you know."

The other three nodded. They were all hopeful that they would succeed, but the nagging fear of insanity kept creeping back into their minds.

* * *

The next day…

"So I can lose my mind? Permanently?" Flippy asked after Sniffles explained to him.

They were in Lumpy's psychiatric office. Flippy, as soon as he was revived, immediately went back to his psychiatrist. He was particularly eager to find out what can be done about Evil Flippy. When he arrived, he was surprised that Sniffles was with Lumpy waiting for him. He was immediately ushered into an adjoining room. It was grey, metallic, with a heavy chair with straps on it. It reminded him of an electric chair.

Sniffles quickly explained what it was, and the consequences of using it on him.

"I can lose my mind, but I can also be rid of Evil Flippy forever?" asked the green bear.

"Yes," said Sniffles.

"What are the odds?" asked the veteran.

"Fifty fifty. Either you'd be cured, or you'd become insane. Both are as likely to happen."

Flippy was stunned. But he knew what he had to do. For the town. For Flaky. For himself.

"But whatever happens, Evil Flippy would be gone?" asked the bear.

"Yes."

That did it. He was willing to sacrifice his sanity to save the town from his evil self. And if he was actually cured, then he could have Flaky. If not, then Flaky would be able to move on, free from the fear of Evil Flippy. Besides, what difference would it make if he was officially insane? Half the town already considers him insane anyway. This would only be for the best.

"You'd better make your will and make your arrangements," Lumpy said. "I mean, just in case, well, you know."

"Right. Tomorrow then," said Flippy. "Today, and tomorrow, I'll do what I needed to do for what might happen."

"Aren't you afraid?" asked Sniffles.

"Yes. I am." He was shaking, sweating, and his face was white.

"But you still want to go through with it?" asked Sniffles.

"It's just like war. When you go charging into the enemy's trenches, you might die. You might not come back. But you still do it because it's your duty as a soldier," said Flippy, his hands shaking. "I do not want to lose my mind, but I'm willing to risk it. For the town. For Flaky."

Lumpy and Sniffles nodded. This was something Flippy needed to do.

* * *

The next day…

It was the morning, around 10 a.m. Sniffles, Lumpy, Splendid, and Pop were waiting. Well, Splendid was in his superhero guise, the reporter having begged off because some 'prior commitments' and offering to call the superhero to substitute for him. They all bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

"Who would've thought? If Evil Flippy hadn't forced that contract on Flaky, we never would've built that machine," said Pop.

Sniffles could only agree. He built this machine because they wanted to help Flaky out of the situation which she found herself. They all liked Flippy as a friend, but they weren't as close to him as they were to the red porcupine. Besides, they all agreed, they wouldn't even want to risk losing good Flippy if Flaky wasn't involved.

"We need to keep this operation as secret as possible," said Lumpy. "No one must know of this."

"But what if someone sneaks up and finds out about it?" asked Sniffles.

"I'll take care of that," Splendid declared. He vanished, and a couple of minutes later, returned.

"What did you do?" Pop asked.

"I killed all of them," said Splendid. "With all of them dead, nobody would ever stumble upon this."

"What? What if Flippy runs around and find the dead bodies? He's going to flip!" Sniffles snapped angrily.

Splendid disappeared, then reappeared a couple of seconds later.

"Problem solved! I disposed of all the bodies and blood!" Splendid declared.

Pop shook his head. It was certainly an extreme solution, but they're used to it. Splendid once buried the entire town lava when he "saved" Giggles from a giant snowball, killing everyone, including Giggles, in the process, except Pop. So the town would dismiss it as another one of Splendid's screw-ups.

"Well, we don't have to be so solemn and sad as we're attending a funeral!" Pop said, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm sure he'll come out fine!"

"I hope he does," said Sniffles. "For Flaky's sake."

* * *

Flippy arrived after an hour. He carried on his hands a stack of letters. If he was afraid, it didn't show. He was surprised to see Splendid and Pop. "Pop, Splendid?" he asked.

"I'm here just in case you flip out," Splendid said. "We can't risk him ruining it.

Flippy nodded in understanding.

"Does your evil twin know?" asked Sniffles.

"No. And I didn't tell anyone else," said Flippy.

"Are you still sure you want to go through with this?" asked Pop.

"Yes. Let's just hope that I'll keep my sanity," he laughed.

There was an awkward silence until Flippy approached Pop. "Pop, here are some letters that I want you to give if this won't be successful. Give this to Flaky," he began, handing a red envelop to the father, "and this is my will. It has already been notarized, and is valid and legal according to Lumpy. And Lumpy, here is a cheque for all that you've done for me," he finished, giving another envelop to the blue moose, "and also, for you Sniffles," handing the anteater an envelop containing a cheque. "And Lumpy, I want you to publish this last letter in the newspapers," he said, giving another envelop to Lumpy.

"I'm sure you'd be okay, and all of this won't be needed," Lumpy replied.

"You're truly brave, Flippy," said Pop. "But I'm sure you'll be okay. You'll be alright."

Flippy sat in the chair at the machine, and Sniffles strapped him in at the hands, feet, and body. The anteater put a metal plate on the veteran's head, and attached a couple of more wires to his head and body.

Sniffles went to the main machine. "One last time. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Yes. Go ahead," Flippy replied without fail. It was now or never.

"Good luck!" Pop said.

"I know you'll be okay!" Lumpy added.

Sniffles pressed the button, and activated the machine.

There were a couple of electrical charges that can be seen travelling through his body. It wasn't strong enough to kill. The green bear began to shake. His eyes began to change from his normal black to green, then back to green. Soon, he began to scream, as pain coursed through his body. He began to speak as if he was talking with himself, his voice alternating between the high pitch of Flippy and the low voice of Evil Flippy.

Soon, he fell quiet, and fell, limp. The others panicked, but Sniffles assured them that it was normal.

Finally, after ten minutes, Sniffles stopped it. They quickly unstrapped him.

"Did it work?" asked Pop.

"I don't know," said Sniffles. "According to all my calculations, it should have. We'll just have to wait until he wakes up."

Flippy's eyes popped open. It was the black pacman type eyes of normal Flippy.

"Are you okay?" asked Sniffles.

Flippy, with Splendid's help, stood up. "Yes," he replied.

"Yes! It was a success!" Pop shouted. "You're not insane!"

"Insane? Insanity! Look, up at the sky! Can you see the pink bird with eyes on its feet?" Flippy said, pointing at the bare ceiling. "A dragon! Get it away from me! Murkal! Murkal! Ha! Ha! Guns and Christmas! Joy is spelled P-U-Y! Unicorns! Ponies! Grenades! Don't you know they're lovely to eat and vomit?"

He began jumping up and down, breaking things with abandon. He would laugh, then suddenly cry, then laugh. He twirled around and began hitting himself in the head with a pencil, before dropping it and rolling on the floor. When not laughing, he would speak nonsense, or rubbish.

Sniffles, Pop, Splendid, and Lumpy looked at him and realized that he was indeed truly insane.

End of Chapter 12

First of all, I would have to apologize for this long delay in update. I wish I can update much sooner but real life had a habit in getting in the way. Anyway, I hope that this chapter makes up for the lost time.

Thanks for the reviewers. If it weren't for you, I'd have dropped this story. Thanks to you, I felt the energy to continue.

Anyway, here are some responses for the reviews that I've got.

To **Hankforthewin, **thanks for your new signature. I really like it.

To **fog112,** thank you. As for the book idea, thanks, but I don't think I can write one.

To **Addicting Candy,** thanks.

To **Sick Twisted Mind, **well Lumpy sure is a klutz, lots of times has no common sense, and sometimes thick, but even so, if there is anyone among all the HTF characters who could act as an authority figure, it's Lumpy. More than any other character, he's acted as a boss of the other characters. After all, he was a teacher, a police officer, a priest, an amusement park owner, a school play director, a doctor, a surgeon, a dentist, a scoutmaster. You'd think that after all his "accidents" they'd stay away from him, but he seemed to be chosen leader time and time again and they came back and again. Overall, though we remember the times when his idiocy caused the deaths of others, there are many times when he did a competent job or that the deaths were really not his fault. Just look at the htf wikia and look in under Lumpy's career section.

That is why Pop went to Lumpy. Because he believes that he'd have the authority to order the others around to help Flaky.

To **Light Through Veins, **thanks again.

To **SweetSugar356, **thanks.

To **SimpleBend,** thanks.

To **ShinobuByako,** well, Evil Flippy's interest in Flaky seems to be about self interest, and his being controlled was a result of miscalculations on his part.

To **FlippyxFlakyForever**, thanks.

To **InuJan,** I apologize for the late update! I hope this makes up for it.

To **Gae-Ta,** thanks. I tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the episodes.

To **Gunslinger-White-Rose,** thanks.

To **Halo001, **thanks.

To **Scitech101,** yup! Flaky's decisions made things worst!

To **Purplelightning12,** thanks. Well, I updated! Sorry it took so long.

To **ZoOmMania,** thanks to reviewers like you, I continued. Thanks.

To **featherfun,** yeah.

To **lucariluver, **well, I'll try my best to finish it.

To **The Special Critic, **thanks for the complements. As for the grammar, I tried my best to detect errors. I reread the chapters before I post them, but sometimes, I miss them even after the most rigorous checking. As for Lumpy, yes, I get annoyed with how he was portrayed at times.

To **Xilvy, **thanks. I will try my best to finish it.


	13. A Glimmer of Hope

**Measures of Acceptability**

**Chapter XIII**

**A Glimmer of Hope**

Flaky was worried. She tried to be faithful to her duties as stipulated in her contract, but how can she when Flippy's house was always locked during the past week? It had been a week since she last saw Flippy and cleaned his house. The next day, it was locked, with a note telling her to take the day off. She shrugged it off and thought nothing about it. The next day, he was still gone, but it didn't worry her too much. Perhaps he was going to an errand that took more than a day or so?

However, his continued absence began to worry her. On the fifth day, she finally decided to make inquiries. However, none of her close friends knew where Flippy was, until she came to Lumpy. The employer of the green bear told her that he was assigned as a reporter with Splendid the reporter to go undercover and expose some anonymous gang or something.

"When will he be back?" asked Flaky.

"Oh I don't know," said Lumpy. "When pigs fly!" he then laughed hysterically.

"Lumpy!" Flaky responded.

"Oh sorry. What was that? Oh Flippy? Well, according to Splendid, my reporter, I think he said a couple of months," the blue moose replied.

"Well thank you," said Flaky.

Flaky wasn't too convinced, but at least she knew that Lumpy and Splendid at least had an inkling to what happened to Flippy. That alone gave comfort to her.

But of course, Flippy, in reality, wasn't in some undercover mission. His recent insanity was very real, and there was no sign that he would recover soon. Pop, Splendid, Sniffles, and Lumpy agreed to keep his condition secret. Sniffles told the others that he might be able to snap the green bear out of it, so its best to keep the fact from the rest of the town. It'll only harm Flippy's shaky reputation among the townspeople. The fact that Splendid was a reporter who frequently did undercover jobs for Lumpy and disappeared for months on end gave "splendid" cover for Flippy.

* * *

Pop adjusted his tie as he prepared for his work. Again, he called Flaky to babysit Cub. After Flippy's disappearance, she was freed from her onerous duties, and the father hurriedly snapped her for his son. He sometimes thought that it was selfish of him to do so, but he looked at the sweet eyes, and he knew he did the right thing. After all, after Flippy recovers, he'd go back to his usual routine of dropping off Cub at Flippy's house for Flaky to care for. But until that happened, Flaky would come to his house to look after his son.

His musings were interrupted by a ring in the doorbell.

"Come in!" he shouted.

The door opened, and a porcupine with dandruffs entered the house.

"Pop?" she tentatively asked.

"Oh come in," said the father.

"I'm sorry for being a little late," she began.

"Oh think nothing of it," said Pop. "You made it, didn't you? Well, I'm going now. You know where to call me when there's something you need or there's an emergency. Take care of Cub. If he dies, don't tell me until I come back home so I wouldn't panic. But be careful. Just because you can come back after you die doesn't give you the right to be reckless."

Flaky nodded.

Pop looked at Flaky and noticed that something was amiss of his son's babysitter. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just worried for Flippy," said Flaky. "Lumpy said that he's gone undercover for some mission, but I don't know. What if something happens to him?"

Pop looked at the red porcupine with pity, everything in his soul telling him that he should tell the truth, but he knew that it was best to keep it a secret, for now at least. "Something happening to him? That bear? The war hero? Nothing bad can happen to him," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.

Flaky nodded. It seemed all too believable. Yet something's telling her that all is not well. But what is it? Still, she wasn't one to question authority, so she accepted the explanation.

* * *

"Well, how's he doing?" Pop asked Sniffles as they watched Flippy, in a straightjacket running around in a padded room.

"Good news is, he stopped getting worst, and he's kinda stabilized," the anteater says as he looked on a chart. "Bad news is, I don't think he's going to get any better."

"Maybe killing him would snap him out of it?" asked Pop.

"Wouldn't work. He killed himself a couple of days ago, and came back just as crazy," said Sniffles. "Nothing I try seems to work."

"Well, how about Evil Flippy?" the father asked. "Is he coming back?"

"Nope? No sign of him appearing either. I've shown him various war movies, and I even had shown him Cuddles' corpse after another one of his accidents, and well, at least we can be sure of him being gone forever."

"At least Flaky's free of him at last," said Pop sadly. "That at least we should be thankful for."

"Yes, we should be," said Splendid as he arrived. He was donned in his reporter's outfit. "Lumpy sent me to ask about him. Is he okay?"

"Sadly, not better," said Sniffles.

"I hope he recovers soon. He can recover, right?" asked Splendid. "I know you told me that it would permanent insanity, but there is still a chance, right?"

"I know what I said. He might recover, but frankly, at this rate, he'll have white hair and be a grandpa when that happens. But, there maybe there is a way to bring him back at a much faster rate," said Sniffles.

"Go on," said Pop, clearly interested.

"I've been thinking, maybe we've been doing all this wrong," said Sniffles. "We all tried our best, but it hadn't worked. Perhaps a more unorthodox method of treatment would be better?"

"Just what are you talking about?" Splendid said.

"Well, we'll use Flaky," said Sniffles.

"FLAKY?" both Splendid and Pop shouted.

"You wouldn't inflict an insane Flippy on her! It would break her heart!" Pop protested. "She would just cry!"

"What good would it do? You are a scientist! A genius, Sniffles," Splendid said. "She's cowardly, and don't know half the time what she's doing."

"Well, there's no harm in trying," said Sniffles.

"Well I don't like it," said Splendid.

"I don't like it either, but we have to give it a shot," said Pop.

"We have to run it through Lumpy first," said Splendid.

The other two agreed to it.

* * *

"Boss, you shouldn't approve of it! It's crazy! It's insane. If professionals like Sniffles couldn't do it, how can Flaky even hope to do it? I know she cares for Flippy, but she doesn't know a thing about taking care of the insane!" Splendid said at Lumpy's farm.

Lumpy decided that he would have take some time for himself, so he assigned himself some "vacation" time, to everyone's relief. The death rate suddenly plummeted as soon as he began to spend more and more time managing his farm. With the six million that Evil Flippy gave him just a few days before good Flippy went for his "treatment", he was enjoying his money. He purchased a couple of tractors, and had a new farmhouse built, and a couple of farm workers to manage it for him.

"Look at that ear of corn," Lumpy ignoring Splendid. "That would win the prize at the country fair again!"

Lumpy pointed at the giant corn cob being cared for by Toothy, his farm worker. Splendid looked around, and saw Cuddles planting some carrots, and CroMarmot "irrigating" some of his plants by simply standing there and letting the sun melt his block of ice. Not to worry, because for this job, CroMarmot simply made himself a larger block of ice, and he'd get back to his ice cream truck when the block became too small for CroMarmot's comfort. In addition, several Pod Lumpys were working on his farm, some of them at the direction of the other tree friends working at Lumpy's farm.

He could afford to relax. Lumpy might have regretted that Evil Flippy was gone, but he knew he was pushing his luck with him, and that the evil bear might somehow wiggle away from his grasp and brutally punish the moose. But according to Sniffles, Evil Flippy was gone permanently, so Lumpy got away with it all! Such was his good fortune! Good Flippy would be a loyal and obedient worker, if he recovers, so nothing much was lost. That's the reason why he hadn't delivered the letters Flippy instructed to give when he became insane. And his grip on the town was still as strong as ever, and most of the Tree Friends still respected his authority.

"Yes, it is," Splendid said as he looked at the ear of corn, then back at Lumpy again. "So about what I said, you won't approve using Flaky, right?"

"Flaky? What about Flaky?" asked the moose.

Splendid had no choice but to repeat what he said, this time hoping that Lumpy would pay more attention.

"So Sniffles and Pop thinks this would work?" asked Lumpy.

"Yes, but I think they're crazy! They're being driven by too much emotion!"

Lumpy was inclined to agree with Splendid, and was about to express his agreement, but who should arrive but Sniffles himself!

"What is he doing here?" asked Splendid.

"He's here to fix some tractors," said Lumpy. "Hey Sniffles!"

"Hi boss," Sniffles waved back at the moose from his car.

Lumpy kept waving as Sniffles with a toolbox approached them. "So where's the tractors?" asked Sniffles.

"What tractors?" asked Lumpy.

"The ones you told me needs fixing!" Sniffles said. He then noticed Splendid, the reported. "Splendid! Fancy meeting you here. You know, you do look like that superhero. Do you know him? Because if you do, can you tell him I want to have his autograph?"

"Know him? No. Just looks like him, sounds like him, and have the same name. But we're completely unrelated," Splendid said with a straight face.

Sniffles just shrugged at that.

"He's telling me about Flaky taking care of Flippy. He told me it's a bad idea," Lumpy interjected.

"Splendid? How could you! Talking to him behind my back about it! As the one in charge of Flippy's recovery, I must say that Flaky is perfectly capable of bringing him back. In fact, I would say that there's nothing to do but give her the chance of doing it. Everything else failed, there's nothing to lose doing so!" Sniffles angrily ranted.

"Get going with those tractors!" Lumpy suddenly ordered, irritated by the outburst!

However, as the anteater picked up his tool kit and went to the broken machines, the moose, then the flying squirrel followed.

"Are you sure it will work?" asked Lumpy. "Flaky on Flippy, I mean."

"I don't know, but we have to try it," said Sniffles.

"About the secret," Lumpy began.

"I'm sure she'll keep her mouth shut. Besides, I'm sure we can cook up an explanation that would satisfy her without revealing the real reason for his insanity," Sniffles explained.

"But that is reckless! She could easily make things worst!" Splendid said.

"True, but do you have a better plan?" Sniffles asked.

Splendid kept silent. He knew a dozen reasons why Flaky shouldn't be involved, but lacked another plan. "Okay, I'll go on with this, but if it becomes worst, don't blame me!"

"Well Okay Sniffles, I'm okay with it," said the moose.

"That's that!" said Sniffles as he began working on the tractor. Unfortunately, the gas tank was open, when one of the Pod Lumpys working on his farm forgot to close it after putting gas on it (it was the Pod Lumpys who destroyed the tractors, accidentally, in the first place). Lumpy took out a cigar, lighted it, and carelessly threw away the lighted match—which landed on the open gas tank.

It exploded, instantly killing Sniffles and Lumpy who was besides the machinery. Flying shards of metal from the explosion imbedded itself of Cuddles head, killing him, cut Toothy's throat, pierced CroMarmot's ice and hit his head, killing him, and shredded several on the Pod Lumpys as well. Which only made them multiply. Splendid survived due to his powers, and he used his eye laser to completely disintegrate several Pod Lumpys to keep their numbers down.

* * *

Two days later…

During Flippy's absence, whenever she wasn't busy babysitting Cub, Flaky had been busy with cleaning other houses, in accordance with her employment contract with Petunia now that Flippy's house was unavailable because of Flippy's "undercover mission." She still cleans it occasionally, to keep the dust from accumulating, having gotten a spare key. But otherwise, she was accumulating a reputation as one of the best cleaners in Petunia's cleaning service by doing her services across the town, from Cuddles' house, to Mole's, to that of CroMarmot. She hoped Flippy can get back from his mission. Her life was beginning to settle down—in fact, despite the stress that Evil Flippy and his contracts and the demands that it put her through, things have begin to become better—she looked forward to her life as Flippy's wife. If only Flippy would finish with his secret mission and she can have him again. He was worth ten contracts with Evil Flippy. She was still terrified of Flippy finding out—but her dream of being with him overrode all such fears.

It was her day off, and Flaky was resting. Her place was spic and span unlike before. Although she had no contractual obligation to clean her own home, her daily work made her unsatisfied with the state of her own home. Besides, her friends—her chief customers, might visit her home and might be unimpressed that her own home was a mess. Still, it had become a habit to clean, she was unsatisfied if something was out of place, but not to the extent of Petunia's OCD.

She was expecting a visit from the newest arrival in Happy Tree Town, Lammy. Lammy had moved some time ago to town. At first, she's a little batty. She had a tendency to kill her friends, and blame her murders on a pickle. The scary thing was, she really believed that the pickle was the one who did it. Flaky was afraid of her at first. But then, she realized, the poor lamb was very nice when she's not blaming her pickle. Despite her mental health, she quickly became friends with Giggles, Petunia, and herself. So she occasionally kills them. But, she was friends with Flippy and Lumpy, so that didn't bother her too much.

"H-h-h-h-hello, F-f-f-f-laky," said the lamb. She was a sheep, so she bleats her words, but Flaky had become used to it. She had an inanimate pickle on her shoulders. "M-m-m-mr. P-p-p-p-p-pickles says h-h-h-h-hello too!"

"Hi, Lammy, hi Mr Pickles," said Flaky as she let her in.

A few minutes later, Giggles and Petunia joined in.

* * *

With Lumpy's authorization in had, Sniffles decided to go ahead with his plan. He needed to talk to Flaky about his, but despite his great intelligence, he hasn't got the greatest communications skills when it comes to members of the opposite sex. So he asked Pop for his help in telling the poor soul what she must do.

The two went to Flaky's house. They heard some screams, and saw some blood seep out of the door. The rushed to see what was happening. Sniffles opened the door, but as he did so, a knife flew right at his face and embedded itself deep in his head. He collapsed, dead, as a pool of blood began to form around his body. Pop wretched at the poor anteater's state, but he was used to it, and quickly entered. There he saw Lammy, her woollen sweater soaked red in blood, Petunia with a fork stabbed into her eye into her brain, dead, and Giggles lying in a pool of blood just outside the bathroom door, her neck slashed. Flaky was on the corner of the kitchen, shivering with fright. Lammy had a look of terror in her face as she stood besides Giggles' body, dropping a bloody knife as she saw Pop.

"It was hhhim!" she bleated as she pointed at an inanimate pickle besides them. "Mr Pickles kkkkkilled Giggles and Petunia. I tttttttried to stop him, but by the time I gggggggggrabbed the knife, she was already dddddead!"

Pop quickly went to Lammy, and said, "I know, I know," as he gently walked her out the door. He could hear sirens as a police car stopped, and Lumpy, as a police officer, stepped out with a taser in his hand.

"Oh you again," said Lumpy, as he looked at the scene and at the female sheep with a bored tone. "The pickle did it again, right?"

"It was Mr Pickles!" she protested. "I didn't kill them!"

Lumpy then tasered the poor lamb and arrested her.

"Told her yet?" asked the blue moose.

"Not yet," said Pop.

Lumpy shrugged as he drove away the lamb to jail.

Pop shook his head. He genuinely liked the lamb. By the way she looks and acts, she really believes that the pickle was the one responsible for all her murders. And she could be so nice when not crazy. That was attested by the fact that Giggles and Petunia and Flaky kept their friendship with Lammy despite all of this.

Once Lumpy and Lammy were gone, he looked inside and went to Flaky. He helped her to stand up, and allowed her to cry into his chest.

"It was terrible, it was terrible!" said Flaky as she buried her face and wiped her tears off his bathrobe. "Lammy got crazy again! We were playing poker. Giggles went to the bathroom, I went to get some coffee, and when I came back both of them were dead! Lammy blamed her pickle, and I just covered up, too frightened!"

Pop helped her into a couch and proceeded to clean the mess the bodies made and wiped the blood off her house. Flaky was crying the whole time. She only calmed down when Pop removed all traces of the murders in her house. "Lumpy will come and get your statements later," Pop said.

"It's not really her fault you know," said Flaky. "She's really nice. She's just like Flippy."

Pop went to the kitchen, grabbed the unmarked coffee container, and made her some hot coffee. "Here, have some of this," the bear said as she gave the cup to Porcupine.

"Thank you," said the porcupine as she began sipping her coffee. She had began to calm down. After all, they would be back tomorrow. "This coffee tastes funny!"

"Flaky, listen," Pop began as she gulped the beverage. "We've not been totally honest with you."

The red porcupine looked at him with questioning eyes.

"The truth is, Flippy, well, he's been here all the time. But he can't see you," Pop said.

"Flippy?" she merely said as her hands shook. She quickly finished her drink as she listened on to Pop.

"Flippy, how should I say it, is insane. Literally," Pop said. He was not the best communicator, but compared to Sniffles, he was a great one. "He's locked up in Sniffles' mental hospital. I would like to say that he's improving, but sadly, he's not. What we want is maybe you could try and take care of him, and maybe, just maybe, you could snap him out of it?"

Flaky felt tears run down her cheek, and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably. "Poor, poor Flippy," she cried.

Pop expected this, but not the next reaction. She suddenly turned green, clutched her body, then suddenly, dropped dead.

The bear was confused. He sniffed her coffee, then suddenly, alarm bells rang. He quickly ran to the cupboard, got the unmarked coffee container, and to his horror, discovered it was rat poison. The real coffee was in a similar looking container just besides it.

* * *

The next day…

Flaky was walking toward Sniffles' mental hospital. She looked at the note the Pop had left he when she died.

_If you care for him, be at Sniffle's mental hospital_

There was no name on the note, but she recognized Pop's handwriting. She was scared. But death had a way of calming her down. Maybe he was not really insane? Maybe its just a metaphor, or something, maybe her Flippy is just having some therapy for that undercover mission he took?

She entered, and was greeted by Sniffles, Lumpy, Splendid, and Pop. Pop immediately took her hand, and said, "I'm glad you could come. Are you sure you really wanted to see him?"

Flaky nodded.

Pop looked at the others, and they nodded their heads.

Without a word, he led her to a padded cell.

Words could not begin to describe the happiness at seeing him, and shock and despair at seeing him like this. He was literally insane. He was singing different tunes. He was jumping all around, saying nonsensical things, he would spit on the walls, roll around the floor, his eyes not the eyes she knew so well, both from the good and evil versions of him, but had a blank stare. "I'm Genghis Khan!" he would proclaim, "Bow down to me and lick my nose!" He wasn't happy tree insane, like Nutty, or Lammy, or even Flippy—they had some method in their madness, but really, literally, out of his mind.

He looked at Flaky, and hopped over to her. He had no recognition to her as he smelt her, and said, "A new playmate! You can be Toes!" he proclaimed. Then he jumped back again laughing uncontrollably.

Flaky could take it any longer. She burst into tears. "Flippy! Oh Flippy!"

"I'm not Flippy, I'm Julius Caesar, son Genghis Khan!" he proclaimed.

She could not take it any longer. She ran and hugged the insane bear, pressed her cheeks against him, and kissed his face numerous times as a mother would kiss her son's face. "Oh Flippy, come back! Come back!" she said as she squeezed him to her.

Then something happened. His eyes suddenly returned to normal as Flaky stared at him. This was the eyes that she so clearly recognized. His demeanour suddenly changed as he became himself again, and said, "Flaky! Flaky, I missed you!"

Flaky looked at him with delight, but it quickly vanished as the blank unrecognizing look on his eyes returned, and he began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Flippy? Please talk to me!" she said as she let go of his straightjacket covered body and looked at him. "Flippy! Flippy!"

"I'm not Flippy, Toes! I'm Henry VIII!" he said as hopped around the padded cell.

Flaky could not bear it anymore and she collapsed in tears. Not able to bear looking at him, she ran out of the padded cell, out of the mental hospital, across the street. Unfortunately, the Mole was driving at the very street, and he ran over the poor porcupine. Her quills, however, popped his tire and caused him swerve and hit a wall. Unfortunately, Disco Bear was walking by that wall and was killed. The car exploded, killing the Mole.

* * *

Pop, Splendid, and Lumpy all began to think that it had been a mistake, but Sniffles was smiling.

"What are you smiling at!" asked Splendid as he saw the smile at the end of the anteater's long snout. "It was a complete fiasco!"

"No its' not," said Sniffles. "That is the first time since he became insane that he became sane for even a second. Trust me, I know. I have 24 hours video camera surveillance on him, and this is the very first time he snapped out of it!"

"What good would that do?" asked Lumpy. "He snapped right back!"

"Well, I imagine, somehow, Flaky was able to snap him out of it, even for just a few moments. Perhaps, she would be able to snap him out longer, or maybe, hopefully, cure him?" Sniffles said.

Splendid nodded. He hated to admit it but maybe the anteater was right. Flaky may be able to do it.

* * *

Flippy looked around him. He was in a wonderful world. The sky was blue, the field full of flowers, there were unicorns, ponies, penguins who drank tea, and colourful rainbows. If only this was real.

It was not real of course. He knew fully well the consequences of Sniffles' machine. Still, he had to take the risk. For Flaky. For the town. To atone of his murders. And he lost that gamble. No matter. He lost Flaky, but at least he still had the memories, and he had the knowledge that she wouldn't have to cower under his doppelganger's terror. Perhaps she could start life anew without him?

He was stuck in his own mind. After the pain of electricity surging through his body, he fell asleep, and dreamt his usual pleasant dreams. He didn't realize it at first, until he realized to his horror that it was all a dream, it wasn't real, and that he really was stuck. The proof?

Evil Flippy. His evil twin. He met him. Physically. Well as physically as he could in his own mind. He knew that was impossible. They were in the same body. Then he realized—the meadows, the ability to mould this world into his liking, the presence of Evil Flippy. He wasn't waking up. He wasn't aware of what was going on out there.

Not that he was bored. Evil Flippy continually attacked him. Several times, he was murdered in his own mind, only for him to immediately come back and kick the green eyed soldier's ass. It was a never ending battle. Both Flippy's control this world, but with good Flippy the slightly more dominant, he was able to determine its shape and nature. Evil Flippy could only conjure things like helicopters, guns, etc.

Evil Flippy himself was grumbling. Everything had collapsed. He too thought that it was just Flippy's usual dreams, but the length of it, and the fact that he wasn't able to break through to control the body meant that he was stuck. All his plans for Flippy and Flaky, all ruined. He was not sure what happened. He had no access to the real world. All he knew that it was months since this happened, and he was practically bored. Killing Flippy, and all those damned penguins, unicorns, and pony's time and time again was getting boring, especially as those imaginary beings immediately became resurrected seconds after they "died".

Several times he thought of simply telling good Flippy his deal with Flaky occurred to him to hurt him emotionally. Several times, he just tried that, but surprisingly, nothing came out. He then realized that he became soft, and he couldn't even try to blacken Flaky's name! What kind of a pathetic moron was he? If he was ever going to get out of here, the first thing he would do was to engage in a killing spree! That would be nice. But how to get out of here? Both of them explored every cranny of this world, and it was endless as they just went in circles. He was sick of all the happiness, the flowers, the songs, that comprised good Flippy's world. If it just was dark, edgy, manly, he might not have complained. But try as he might, he can't get out. In the past few weeks he became friendlier with his counterpart, as they spent days just talking, even if those talks were just insults flying at each other. Other times, they discussed the war, how pathetic good Flippy was, how evil Evil Flippy was, how they hated each other.

It was a sort of gilded prison, and after many months, all hope of escape vanished as nothing worked.

Then it happened.

"FLIPPY! OH FLIPPY!" a loud shout boomed against the landscape. That voice was unmistakable. It was Flaky's.

"OH FLIPPY, COME BACK! COME BACK!" Flaky's voice thundered, in a voice so loud all in the meadow had to cover their ears.

Suddenly, good Flippy felt a force pulling him, as he felt himself being shook. Suddenly, there he was, looking at Flaky. He was in the real world. He was strapped in a straightjacket, in a padded cell, with Lumpy, Pop, Splendid, and Sniffles behind Flaky, who was hugging him.

"Flaky! Flaky, I missed you!" he said as he smiled and looked at her lovingly. He saw as her eyes brightened, then he felt a force pull him back.

Suddenly, he was back in his dream world, staring in at his Evil counterpart, who had a look of puzzlement. "Where did you disappear to?" he asked.

"I..I…" he began, but stopped. He realized then and there that he had been in the real world. "Flaky," he said.

"PLEASE TALK TO ME!" he heard the voice, but it became fainter, until he heard no more

Those few seconds of seeing the real Flaky, feeling her hugging him in the real world, was worth it. And he had hope. Maybe he can actually regain his sanity and come back?

NOTES: First of all, I apologize for the very long delay. Real life happened, and it was only recently that I had time to update my fics.

To answer some questions:

Well Lumpy indeed had hogtied Evil Flippy. But even if he can be a greedy bastard, he also is genuinely nice to the Tree Friends. Besides, he was able to squeeze as much money out of Flippy, and without Evil, he won't able to have to fear for the consequences of his deals with him. Besides, he's not the most consistent of characters. Sometimes, he just do things out of impulse without thinking them through.

Thanks to all the reviewers of my story. Hope this makes up for the long delay!


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